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KANT ON EDUCATION
(UEBERPADAGOGIK)
TRAXSLATED BY
ANNETTECHURTON
WITH AN INTRODUCTIOX
BY
BOSTON, U.S.A.
D. C. HEATH ,& CO., PUBLISHERS
1900
INTRODUCTION
NEARLYa century after its original publication

in Germany Immanuel Kant iiber Plidagogik is
now for thefirsttimepresentedtoEnglish
readers in the translation madeby Miss Annette
Churton.Thelittle work, as is well known,
was not compiled for publication by the master
himself. In the last years of hislong life he
handedoverto his youngerfriendandformer
~ pupil, Theodor Rink,thenoteshehadwritten
for professorial
his courses on Physical
Geographyand onPedagogics,andcommis-
sioned the latter to select and compile from the
loose leaflets asmuchashethoughtmight
proveserviceable to thereading public. Rink
set to work andbroughtoutthenotes on
education in 1803, the year before Kant's
death.
The
lectures, it seems,were not
intended,nor d8fvrtiori the nates, to give an
exhaustivetheory of education,nor do they
LIBBAB
at
m b w u e Gt3rmcuh G ~ ~ ~ ~ W W
..
".., &+
vi THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
,presentany well-formulated
body of philo-
sophical doctrine based on either metaphysical
or psychological or
sociological data.Kant's
chair at Konigsberg University was that of logic
and metaphysic, buthislecturing work-both
as professor and, before that,as Pricat-docent
"included a number of subsidiary subjects.
During the
last
quarter of the
eighteenth
century pzedagogicswas inclhded as a snbject
of instructionintheuniversity,certain pro-
fessors taking it inturnto deliver a course
of lectures thereon. When the course fell to
Kanthe conformed, as was his wont, tothe
not unusual custom of taking a standard text-
book on his theme-in this connection it was
that of his colleague, Prof. Bock, Ueber die
Erzieh?~ngskunst(Konigsberg, 1780)"as a nomi-
nal guide toprocedure..Buthe did not allow
the exposition of the book to hamper him in the
originalandconstructive treatment of his
subject. There is, indeed, no very apparent
trace of Bock in these notes. The text-book,
being in his hand and accessible to his hearers,
probably required no memoranda for exposition ,
and criticism of it. Whether he expounded and

criticised or no!,,. .the legacy transmitted through
. . ,
INTRODUCTION vii
his pupil to posterityconsistssimply of a

number of independent reflections, of criticisms
not relating to Bock, of series of apophthegms,
suggestive points, aperpus, with here and there .
digression and repetition.' Above all we feel
that, according to his usual method, the master
is addressing the averageyouthamonghis
listeners.Thetoughestthings of the Critiques
are not drawn upon, nor is there any termino-
logical paraphernalia to deter the listener. The
Kantianethicis there, rightenough,but the
teacher isfeeling out after a theory of education.
He is deeplyinterestedinhistheme,buthis
attitudetowards it isinductive and experi-
mental. He realised itsimportanceandthe
magnitude of its issues, but also the imperfect
and provisional nature of existingconclusions
on the subject. There was his nine
years'
experience as a private tutor tocorrectany
rash theorising-heused to sayhehad never
beenable toapplyhis own precepts in any
specific caseamonghispupils ! And his long
academiccareermusthave afforded himvery
1 Rink does not appear to have kept any notes made by

himbelf while a pupil, or t o have~colleoted any from other
former students.
...
Vlll THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
varied
insight
into
the nature of youthful
development.
But it wasabove all the time and the man
that left thethoughtful minds of the
last
quarter of the eighteenth century no option but
to be intenselyconcernedwith the problem of
education.Thedoctrine of therights of man,
the conviction of theworth of theindividual
aa such, was taking flesh to dwell among us.
The child too, qud child, had rights to be let iive
his child-life and enjoy his
youth. Laissez
ntarir I’enfance duns les enfants ! pleaded the
book which was the charter of the rights of the
child-I allude, of course, tothedntile-they
havetheir own ways of seeing, thinking, feel-
ing. Be not for everseekingthemanin the
child,heedless of what the child is in and for
himself. He is notsimply‘undeveloped man,
but diverse.’ His plane of being is one of
transition, no doubt, yet in a way it is indepen-
dent, positive, integral,a microcosm. If he
die young, look on him not merely as a failure,
(I budnipped off, but as on0who for awhile
and in his ownway has tasted sweet life. And
sea to it that life to such has been’ made sweet !
Letthe child, echoed Kant, be traibed w a
INTRODUCTION ix
child and not as a Biirger. He had, of course,

to be trained up inthedutieshe owed to a
socialmacrocosm, butthisentity was not so
much a definitelyconceived state-that ideal
was of thepastand not yet re-born-as a
vaguely comprehensive humanity of indepen-
dent individuals. The childwas to graduate as
a Weltburger. Nor waa the community of
children,nor were their claims on each other,
very definitely taken into account. That also
was to come. The individualism of the time
saw only the Child and the Man, the nature of
him overlaid by a crust of privilege, convention,
andcorrupttradition. This was to be broken
'away; and the common nature that lay stifled
beneath elicited and developed by a wholesome
culturethat should be all-powerful to redeem
and reform. So would the moral sense innate
in him sprout and burgeon, till the dignity of
Man in the blossom of the Youth should stand
confessed and vindicated.
Such and much more was in the air when
these
lecture-notes were written. And its
Conjunktur had brought forth the man. Come-
nius and Locke,over and under t~ osntury
earlier, had been fashioninghim. And now
, . I
X THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
Voltaire had gone to Lo:ke comme I’evJant

prodigzte qui retourna chez aon p&e, andhad
brought thatfather home to the adopted land
of Rousseau. $mile saw the light in 1762, and
the effect of its absorbing fascination on Kant
when he opened the book is an old story.The
next twodecades witnessed the ideas therein
put forth taking root and germinating in Kant’s
native land;
Educational
‘innovations were ~
tried ; educationalreformers were maturing.

The Philanthropist schools were founded in
Germany inandafter 1774, Kanttaking a
lively interest intheparent Philanthyopin at
Dessau. Bahrdt, Basedow,Campe,wereavowed
Rousseauists.Pestalozzi was preparinghis
aphorisms. Oberlin, Herder,Lessing, were in
their prime ; Olivier yet a youth. Herbart was
inthenursery;Fichteand Froebel in the
cradle.
If theseslight suggestions beworked out,
the reader of these Thoughts on Education will
get a more lifelikebackground to them than if
he held in hishandthe defunct text-book on
which Kant embroidered his lectures. Rousseau
far more than Bock-the pioneer and not the
pedant-is therealinspirer, I do notsay of
INTRODUCTION xi
Kant’s underlying principles, but of so much in

these notes as indicates an inductive search for
a freshtheory of education.This ispatent
t
throughout. Bock, as I havesaid,isnever
quoted.Apparent,ly his colleague’s
vieffs did
notget woven up intothetissue of Kant’s
theorising.
Rousseau, on the otherhand,
appears
throughout, explicit and
implicit,
thoughthetenderinsight of thefather is
replaced by the relatively rigid and crude stand-
points of one who had nevergone inandout
amonginfants of his own. I t is Rousseau’s
Baby who sits enthroned in the Chair of Logic
and Metaphysics of the elderlybachelor philo-
’sopher, and hears curious things said respecting
his temperature, a Spartan treatment prescribed
for hismanytears,an impossiblereasonable-
ness in expressinghiswantsrequired of him,
buta glorious
freedom in
dress and limb
declaredessential to hishappiness. It is
Rousseau’s Child for whom Kant claims that he
be broughtupindependent of thestunting
assistance of tools andappamtusgenerally;
that hisnature, devoid of originalperversity, .
butdepending for ite moral growth on right
nurture, be drawn out,
not repressed-be
xii THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
allowed the play of regulated freedom and not

moulded into an automrqton of habits,nor be
worried by argumentsappealing, to faculties
yet undeveloped. We do not catch distinctly in
Kant's teaching the real Leitmotif of &mile, via.
educationnot by preceptsbut by things '"in
otherwdrds by the laws of Nature.What,
again, we find in Kant and not in the &mile I
will outline presently. But thraugh both works,
whiIe the ideals of liberty and equality are held
up as supremely worthy,both the Stoic Prussian
and the sympathetic Genevan submerge that of
fraternity in the concept of the free Weltbiirger,
jealous of his own liberty so it encroach not on
that of others, jealous for the dignity of huma-
nityin himself andothers. To the ideal of
liberty Kant attained by a road peculiar to his
own philosophy. As to that of equality, by his
own admission it was Rousseau-Z'ami de
l'hgalit6"who had dragged
him
from
his
exclusive andaristocraticstandpoint, andhad
made him sensible of the claims of all men on
him in virtue of the common humanity in all.
. At times,offended by Rousseau'sextreme and
paradoxicalconclusionscouched in astyle of
great charm, Kant accused him, just as Rous-
INTRODUCTION xiii
seau himself had accused many old and newer

philosophers, of attempting to trick out well-
worn doctrines in new forms. Yet the profound
impression made by Rousseau remained, and so
too does Kant’s confemion remain, that never
before were sagacity of mind, loftiness of genius,
and sensitiveness of soul so combined as in
this man.
Thus it was during the dawn of a new era
of social philosophy, duripg the re-birth of the
art of education, that Kant compiled his lectures
onpsdagogics.
Theybear
the
impress of
these conditions. Both dogmatic and inductive,
like hiscriticalphilosophy,they Rhow also a
*standpoint which is characteristic of an age
that wae passing, and yet affords glimpses into
the future. There is the optimistic construction
of man’s destiny ; the antithesis between man
andbeast, reason andinstinct ; there is the 1
familiaranalogy between family andstate ;

values are not an evolutionalgrowth, but are
essential and intrinsic; nurture is all-important ;
nature as handicapped by heredity is not yet a
problem. * Man is nothing but whateducation
makes of him.’ There is noaccounttaken of
the wear and tear of the career, of the strain
xiv THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
andstress of competition. Thatthe boy’s

education is to be compressed or expanded from
suchconsiderations asthe overcrowding of
professions, thestruggle for life, therace for
wealth, the commercial status of his fatherland,
is undreamt of in these quiet, hazy horizons.
I say the boy’s education ’-forwedo
( not
find norshould we expect to find, the problem
of the education of the girl faced and discussed,
even though (and ind%edjust because) Rousseau
hadsupplemented Smile by Sophie.
Sophie
was not an individual, an integer,apotential
equalamong equals;she was an adjunct. I n
aKonigsbergChairespecially she was a neg-
ligible quantity. It is truethatthequestion
of intellectual development for her, in SO far as
it was raised by Rousseau, made its impression
uponKant. And possibly histutorial experi-
ence may have given him glimpses of the needs
and capacities of girls for more adequate culti-
vation.Nevertheless theindefinite sex of his
child becomessolely masculinewhenitsmore
advanced trainingis discussed. In the second
appendix to Vogt’s edition of these lectures we
findthe problemcautiouslyraised-and put
aside, for thesame.reason K m tp u t aside
INTRODUCTION xv
theproblem of teaching theology inductively,
vie. the practical exigencies of current tradition.
So the Woman bode her time.
Thus far for peruke and powder. But Kant
is too great to be merely historically interesting.
There is much in these lecture-notes worthy to
be considered by educators for many a genera-
tion to come. Now andagainthehand of the
writer is on the pulse of the future. Always he
is earnest, wise, and sane.
Broadly divided, education for Kant is either
physical or
moral,
,is
either cultization or
moralieotion of theindividual. Inthe former
what the childis capableof knowing and per-
-formingis elicited and practised. His #&LE
"bodily,intellectual, emotional-is developed
by nurture, discipline, and training. The pupil
is'passive'(that is,receptive) andnot self-
determined. I n thelatterthe CHARACTERis
formed; the
reason becomes established as
practical or pragmatic ;' that is, as moral 'and
self-determining. This
can only be effected
throughthose ' maxims ' orsubjectivelaws
which are implicate in the reason, bht are not
evolved till the reason attains to self-expression ;
that is, to the concepts of dutyand Iaw. Till
I
XVi THOUGRTS ON EDUCATION
then the child is unmoral. Then he does good

because it is good, and not fromspecific motives.
This is the coming of age of the moraliaation of
the
individual. And as compared with the
amount of ' physical ' education bestowed, Kant
held we were very far from realising the need
for that other kind of culture. For to 'moralise'
a child, recourse must not be had to the usual
incentives of discipline-habits, imitation,
rewards,punishments.Moralconductentails
a fresh fiat of thepractical reasoneverytime
theindividual is confronted by the need of
moral choice. If the child infringethemoral
law, theteachermustresentit 8s an offence
againstone or moreindividuals a8 moral. For
Kant,then,the problem of education resolved
itself into that of Indeterminism-how to con-
strainthe child
without
enslaving
his
moral '
freedom ; how to compel the will,while fitting
it to use itsliberty.For R~OUSB~&U, mindful of
an external cosmos of Nature, it resolveditaelf
into an equationbetween faculties m d desires
in man's task of ' measuring himself awec tout
ce qui I'environne.'
Thattheultimate ideal of education is
nothing less thanthe perfection of humaa
INTRODUCTION xvii.
nature was set by Kant in the forefront of his

course. And it is not a goal to be attained by a
few elect individuals.Academicaristocracy is
waved aside by hisall-embracingfaith : ' Not
particular human beings but the human race is
to
attain it.' He does not in
these
notes
attempt any philosophical definition or criterion
of perfection.' We of to-day,as he heresays,
are not by anymeansclew on that point.
But it is impressive to find the old mannot
only demanding much of human character, but
believing to the last in his dictum : Du kannst
den3 du sollst.
It is worthwhilenoticing that bothKant
i n d Rousseau, at least implicitly, teach that the
proximate ideal bestconducingtowards that
ultimateendisnotcitizenship, nor fraternity,
but fatherhood. For Kantthe boy's training
culminates and ceaseswhen heis old enough
to havechildren of his own. And there is
nothingwantingintheemphasislaid on the
I In Vogt's essay Eant's padag0gisch.e Amchauung vom
Stdpuwkte der LEhTE von der transcen&ntabn Freiiaeit, &a
the followingdefinition of perfectionisquoted incidentally
@ud definition) fromthe JzqendEehre : - I Forthe perfection
.
'
of a human being, as a personality, consistsprecisely in this,

that he himself is capable of determining his purpose accord-
ing to his own notions of duty.'
a
xviii THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
mission of thefatherinthe &?nile. What,

truly, would be left of most of our painful social
problems were all parents always at their best
and wisest in intercourse with their children?
And who shall say whether we may not come to
see progress in concentrating the goal of boyhood
in proportion as we expand that of girlhood ?
Finally, as to those who should educate the
fathers of the coming generation, Kant has left
a word pregnant with the future far more than
hehimself was aware,andgoingfar beyond
the educational range of the time. ‘ The whole
race ’“not a group of cities here and there, or
. an epoch now and then-‘ the whole race must
educate the individual.’ Though, ashe has
said, it be chiefly through the agency of those
who know,’ it is all humanity, past and present,
that must minister to the development of the
child, by whom in his or her turn, when rightly
trained, the whole race, both present and future
and past, is served.
Our modern predagogics will in no wise suffer
; fromkeeping in view Kant’s wide and high
prospect. Andfor the general Englishreader,
in whose eyes Kantstillcounts, mostinaccu-
rately, as a mainly speculative thinker, it should
INTRODUCTlOX xix
prove a benefit to come to know, through Miss

Churton’stranslation, some of the less known
workings of a mind whose influence on modern
philosophic and scientific thought has scarcely
been surpassed.
C. A. FOLEY RHYSDAVIDS.
TRANSLATOR’S
PREFACE
THE textadoptedinthistranslation of Kant’s

Padagogik ’is thatof Dr. TheodorVogt (Langen-
salza, secondedition, 1883). I have,however,
comparedthisthroughout with theoriginal
edition of Friedrich Theodor Rink (Konigsberg,
1803) and with that of Rosenkranz and Schubert
(Kant’s Werke, 1838),and wherever Vogt differs
materially from the older editions the different
readinghas beenquoted in a footnote. I n a
few placeswhereVogt’s text was obviously
corrupt it has been supplemented by the reading
of the original edition.
I shouldliketotake thisopportunity of
expressing mythanksto Dr. Winternitz of
Oxford for hiskindness in revising the MS.,
and to Mrs. Rhys Davids for many valuable
suggestions.
CONTENTS
CHAFTER
I. INTRODUCTION . , , , , . , .
PAQE
1
11. PHYSICAL EDUCATION , , , , , . 88
-111. INSTRUCTION
(CULTURE) . , , . 58
IV. CULTIVATION O F THE MIND. . . , . 66
MORAL
V. CULTURE , , . . . . , 83
VI. PRACTICAL EDUCATION , , a , . US
.'
THOUGHTS ON EDUChTION
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1. MAN is the only being who needs educa- Education

includes
tion. For by education we mustunderstand
nurture (the tending and feeding of the child), f!ii2!-ne'e,
discipline (Zucht), and teaching,togetherwith zkFd
culture.' According to this,man is in. Bucces- training
sion infant (requiring nursing), child (requiring
discipline), and scholar (requiring teaching).
2. Animalsuse their powers, as soon as MEU
needs
theyare possessed of them, accordingto a nurture:
animals
regular plan-that is, in a way not harmful to do not
themselves. .
1 Culture (BiMung)is usedhere in the sense of mors1

tdning."(Tr.)
B
.
..
2 TIIOUCIITS ON EDUCATION
It is indeedwonderful, for instance,that

young swallows,when newly hatchedandstill
blind, are careful not to defile their nests.
Animalsthereforeneednonurture,but at
the most, food, warmth, and guidance, or a kind
of protection. It istrue, moat animals need
feeding, butthey donotrequirenurture. For
by nurture we mean the
tender
care
and
attention which parents must % b p o n their
children, BO as to prevent them from using their
powers in a way which wouldbe harmfulto
themselves. For instance,
should
ananimal
cry when it 'comes into the world, as children
do, it would surely become a prey to wolves and
other wild animds, which would gather round,
attracted by its cry.
. Man 3. Discipline changesanimalnatureinto
needs dis-
oipliie : human*nature. Animals are by theirinstinct
animals
have all that they evercan be ; someother reason
instinct
: guide
to has provided everything for them at the outset.
them Butman needs a reason of his own. Having
no instinct, he has to work out a plan of con-
duct for himself.Since,however, he is not
able to do this all at once, but comes into the
world undeveloped, others have to do it for him.
4. All the natural endowments of mankind
INTRODUCTION 3
must be developed little by littleout of man Discipline

IS merely
himself, through his own effort. negative
One generation educates
the
next.
The
firstbeginnings of thisprocess of educating
m a m e looked for eitherinarudeand un-
formed,orin a fully developed condition of
man. If we assumethelattertohavecome,
first,man mush st alleventsafterwardshave
degenerated and lapsed into barbarism.
It isdiscipline,which preventsmanfrom
being turned aside by his animal impulses from
humanity,hisappointedend. Diecipline, for
instance,mustrestrainhimfromventuring
wilgly and rashly into danger. Discipline, thus,
is merely negative, its action being to counter-
act
man'snatural
unruliness.The positive
instruction.
part of is
education I
Unruliness consists in independence of law.

By disciplinemen are placed insubjection to
the laws of mankind, and brought to feel their
constraint.This, however, must be accom-
plishedearly.Children, for instance,arefirst
sent to school, not 80 much with the object of
tbir learning something, but rather that they
may become used tosittingstillanddoing
exactly aa they are told. And this t o the end
32 '
4 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
that in later life theyshouldnot wish toput

actuallyandinstantlyintopracticeanything
t,hat strikes them.
The 5. The love of freedom is naturally so strong
necessity
of disoip- inman,that whenonce hehas grownmcus-
line in
earlplife tomedtofreedom,he will sacrifice everything
for its sake. For this veryreasondiscipline
must be brought into play very early; for when
this
has
not been
done, it is difficult to
alter character later in life. Undisciplinedmen
are apt to follow every caprice.
We see this also among savage nations, who,
though they may discharge functions for some
time like Europeans,yetcan neverbecome
accustomedto European manners. With them,
however, it is not the noblelove of freedom
which Rousseau and others imagine, but tt kind
of barbarism-theanimal, so tospeak,not
havingyetdevelopeditshumannature. Men
shouldthereforeaccustomthemselvesearly to
yield to the commands of reason, for if a man
beallowed to follow. his ownwill in his youth,
withoutopposition,a certain lawlessnesa will
clingtohim throughouthis life. And it is no
advantage to such a man that in his youth he
bas been spared through an over-abundance of
-
INTRODUCTION 5
motherlytenderness, for later on all the more

will hehavetofaceoppositionfrom all sides,
and constantlyreceive rebuffs, as soon ashe
enters into the business of the world.
It is a common mistake made in the educa-
tion of those of high rank, that because they are
hereafterto become rulerstheymustonthat
accountreceivenoopposition intheir youth.
Owing tohisnatural love of freedom it is
necessary thatman shouldhavehisnatural
roughness smoothed down ; with auimale, their
instinct renders this unnecessary.
6. Manneeds nurtureandculture.Culture Man
needs in-
indudes discipline and instruction. These, as struction :
animals,
far as we know, no animal needs, for none of 88 a rule,
themlearnanything from their elders, except do
birds, who are taught by them to sing ; and it is
a touchingsight to watch themother bird
singing with all her might to her young ones, '
who, like children at school, stand round and try

to produce the sametonesout of theirtiny
throats. In orderto convinceourselves that
birds do not sing by instinct, but that they are
- actuallytaughttosing,it is worth while tomake
an experiment. Suppose we take away half the
eggsfrom a canary,andputsparrow's eggs in I
\
their place, or exchangeyoungsparrows for

youngcanaries; if theyoungbirdsarethen
brought into a room where they cannot hear the
sparrowsoutside, they will learnthecanary's
song,and we thusgetsingingsparrows. It is,
indeed, very wonderful that each species of bird
hasits own peculiarsong,whichispreserved
unchanged through all its generations ; and the
tradition of the song is probably the most faith-
ful in the world.
It is only 7. Mancanonly become man by education.
through
education He ismerelywhateducationmakes of him.
that the
ierfecting It is noticeable that manis only educate8 by man
of man'a
nature -thatis, by men who havethemselvesbeen
can be
accom-
educated.Hencewithsome people itiswant
plished of discipline andinstruction on their own part,
whichmakes theminturn unfit educators of
their pupils. Were some being of higher nature
than man to undertake our education,we should
then be able to see what man might become. It
is, however, difficult' for us accurately to estimate
man% natural capabilities,, sincesomethings
are imparted to man by education, while other
things are only developed by education. Were it
possible, by the help of those in high rank;and
throughtheunited forces of many people, to
INTROD LJCTION 7
make an experiment on this question, we might
even by thismeans be abletogain some
information as to the degree of eminence which
it is possible for mantoattain.Butit is as
important to the speculative mind, as it is sad
to one who loves his fellow-men, to see how those
in high rank generally care only for their own
concerns, andtakenopart in theimportant
experiments of education, w q h bring our nature
one step nearer to perfection.
There is no one who, having been neglected
in hisyouth,can cometoyears of discretion
withoutknowingwhether the defect lies in
discipline or culture (for so we may call instruc-
tion).Theuncultivatedmaniscrude, the un-
’ disciplined is unruly. Neglect of discipline is a
greater evil than neglect of culture, for this last
&n be remedied laterin life, butunruliness
cannot be doneawaywith, and ,a mistake in
discipline can never be repaired. It may be that
education will be constantly impr&ed, and that
each succeedi,ng generationwill advance one step
towards theperfecting of mankind;forwith
education is involved the great secret of the per-
fection of humannature. It Ri only now that
something may be done in this direction, since
for thefirsttime people havebeguntojudge

rightly,andunderstand clearly,what actually
belongs to a good education. It isdelightful to
realise thatthrougheducationhumannature
will be continually improved, and brought to such
s condition as is worthy of the nature of man.
This opens out to us the prospect of a happier
human race in the future.
The 8. Theprospect of a theory of education is a
theory of
education glorious ideal, and it matters little ifwe are not
is a glori-
ouB ided; able to realise itat once. Only we mustnot
none the look upontheideaaschimerical,nordecryit
less.
worthy of as a beautiful dream, notwithstanding the diffi-
our mm
because it culties that stand in the way of its realisation.
has not
yet been An idea is nothing else thanthe conception
realised
of a perfectionwhichhasnotyet been ex-
perienced. For instance,theidea of a perfect
republicgoverned by principles of justice-is
such an idea impossible, because it has not yet
been experienced3
Our idea must in the first place be correct,
andthen,notwithstandingallthehindrances
that still stand in theway of its realisation, it is
not st allimpossible.Suppose, for instance,
lying to become universal, would truth-speaking
, on that actceount become nothingbut a whim ?
1 INTRODUCTION 9
I
And the idea of an education which will develop

all man’s natural gifts is certainly a true one.
9. Under thepresenteducationalsystem This plan
of an
man doesnot fully attain to the object of his adequate
education
being; for in whatvarious ways men live ! may be
Uniformitycanonlyresultwhenallmenact ~ ~ ~
accordingto thesame principles, which prin-
ciples would have to become with them a second
nature.What we cando is to work out a
scheme of education better suited to further its
objects, andhand*downtoposteritydirections
asto how thisschememay be carriedinto
practice, so thbt they might be abletorealise
it gradually. Take the auricula as an example.
Whenraised from a root thisplantbears
flowers of onecolour only; whenraisedfrom
seed, the flowers are of the most varied oolours.
Nature has placed these manifold germs in the
plant, and their development is only a question
of proper sowing and planting. Thus it is with
man.
10. Therearemanygermslyingunde- True edo-
cation
veloped in man. It is for us tomakethese should
have for
germs grow, by developing his natural gift8 in Its . aim
their due proportion, and to see that he fulfils ~ ~ ~ o ~ ; e n t
his destiny. Animals accomplish this for them- of natural
gifts, and selves unconsciously. Man must strive

to
the fulfil-
ment of attain it, but this he cannot do if he has not
man's
destiny even a conception as to the object of his
existence. Forthe individual it is absolutely
impossible to attain this'object. Let us suppose .
the first parents to have been fully developed, and
see how theyeducatetheirchildren.These
first parents set their children example,
an which
the childrenimitateandinthis waydevelop
some of their own natural gifts. All their gifts
cannot, however, be develop&l in this way,for
it all depends on occasional circumstances what
exampleschildren see. In timespastmenhad
no conception of the perfection to which human
nature might attain-even nowwe have not a .
veryclear,idea of thematter.Thismuch,
however, is certain : that no individual man, no
matter what degree of culture may be reached
by his pupils, can insure their attaining .their
destiny. To succeed in this, not the work of a
few individualsonly is necessary, butthat of
the whole human race.
i.
Since such 11. Education is an art whichcanonly
develop-
ment can become perfect throughthe practice of many '
only be
brought generations. Each generation, provided
with
qadnally the knowledge of the foregoing one,is able more
about
INTRODUCTION 11
and more tobringaboutan educationwhich in the

course of
shalldevelopman's naturalgiftsintheir due genera-
tions, edu.
proportion and inrelationtotheirend,and cationis
an art
thus advance the whole human race towards its
destiny.Providence has willed, that man shall
bring forth for himself the good that lies hidden
in his nature, and has spoken, as it were, thus
to man.: ' Go forthintotheworld! I have
equipped thee with every tendency towards the
good. Thy part let it be to develop those
tendencies. Thy happiness and
unhappiness
depend upon thyself alone.'
12. Man must develop his tendency towards This
develop-
the good. Providencehasnot placedgoodness ment
must be
ready formed in him, but merely as a tendency develop-
and
without
the
distinction of moral
Nan's duty is toimprovehimself; to cultivate ihirE::d:
hismind ; and, when he finds himselfgoing Cit;;
astray, t o bringthemoral law tobearupon problem
himself.Upon reflection we shall find this
very difficult. Hence thegreatestandmost
difficult problem to which man can
devote
himself is the problem of education. For
insightdepends on education,andeducation
in its turn depends on insight. It follows I
therefore that educationcanonlyadvance by

Ji
slow degrees, and B true conception of the

method of education can only arise when one
generationtransmitstothe next itsstores of
experience and knowledge, each generation
addingsomething of its o m before transmit-
ting them to the following. Whatvastculture
and experience does notthis conception pre-
suppose? It could only be arrived at && a late
stage, and we ourselves have not fully realised
this conception. The questionarises,Should
we in the education of the individual imitate the
course followed by the education of the human
race through its successive generations 3
There are two human inventions which may
be considered more difficult than any others-
the art of government, and the artof education ;
and people still contend as to their very mean-
ing. '
The de- 13. But in developing humantalents where
velopment
is more are we totake OUT stand ? Shall we bogin with
ooncelv-
able in en a rude, or with an already developed state of
'' *civilised
lred~ society?
state of It is difficult to conceive a development from
society
a, state of rudeness (hence it is so difficult to
understand what the first man waslike),and
we see that in a development out of such a con-
INTRODUCTION 13
II
ditionmanhasinvariably fallen back again
iuto that condition, and has raised himself out
of it. Inthe earliest
records of even very
civilised nations we still find a distinct taint of
barbarism,andyet how muchcultureispre-
supposed for merewritingto be possible! So
much so that, with regard to civilised people,
the beginning of the art of writingmight be
called the beginning of the world.
14. Since the development of man’s natural The
origin
gifts does not take place of itself, all education and t h e
carrying
is an art. Nature has placed do instinct in him out of the
for that purpose.The origin as well as the :2u$ion
carvying o u t of this art is either mechanical and ;:::”,
withoutplan,ruled by givencircumstances, or mechani-
c a l ; they
it involves the exercise of-judgment. The art of must in.
volve the
educationisonly then mechanical,when on exercise
chance occasions we learn by experience whether ~ ~ ~ ~
anythingis useful or harmful to man. All
education which is merelymechmicalmust
carry withitmanymistakesand deficiencies,
because it has 110 sure principle to work upon.
If education is to develoE humannature so
that it may attain the object of its being, it must
involve the exercise of judgment.Educated
parents areexampleR which children usefor their
14 THOUGHTS OW EDUCATION
Q
guidance. If, however, the childrenare
to
progressbeyondtheir parents, educhtion must
become astudy, otharwise we canhope for
nothing from it, and one man whose education
has been spoilt will only repeat
his o m
mistakes in trying to
educateothers. The
mechanism of educationmuvt be changed into
a science,’ and one generation may have to pull
down what another had built up.
15. One principle of education whichthose
men especially who formeducationalschemes
should keepbefore their eyes is this-children
ought to be educated,notfor the present,but
for a possibly improved condition of man in the
future ; that is, in a manner which is adapted
to the idea of humanity and the whole destiny
of man.Thisprincipleis of greatimportance.
Parentsusuallyeducatetheirchildren merely
in such a manner that, however bad the world
may be, theymayadapt themselves toits
presentconditions. But
they
oughtto give
them an education so much.betterthanthis,
that a bettercondition of thingsmaythereby
be brought a%out in the future.
Rink and Sohubert add here : ‘ otherwise it will never
be a consistent pursuit.’-(Tr.)
INTRODUCTION 15
16. Here, however, we are met bytwo diffi- This
principle
culties-(a) parents usually only care that their isover-
looked by
children mnke the+ way inthe world, and (b) prtrents
when
Sovereigns look upon theirsubjectsmerelyas they look
merely to
tools for their own purposes. worldly
Parentscare for the home, rulers for the E t$
;j
state.Neitherhaveastheiraimtheuniversal princes
when they
good and the perfection to which man is destined, look
merely t o
and for which he has also a natural disposition. the useful.
ness of
Butthebasis of a scheme of educationmust in&\,&
be cosmopolitan. And is, then, the idea of the t;ln:gte
universal good harmfultousasindividuals ? The basis
Never ! for though it may appear that something of educa-
t1on
mwstbe sacrifieed by thisidea,anadvance is should be
cosmo-
also made towards what is the best even for the politan
individualunderhispresent conditions.And
then whatgloriousconsequences follow ! It is
through good education that all the good in the
world arises. For thisthegerms which lie
hidden in man need only to be more and more
developed ; for the rudiments of evil are not to
be found inthenatural disposition of man.
Evil is onlybtheresult of naturenotbeing
broughtundercontrol. I n man there are only
germs OF good.
17. But bywhom is thebsttercondition of
We must the world to be broughtabout 3 Byrulers or

approach
thisgoal by theirsubjects? Is it by thelatter, who
chiefly
through shall so improve themselves thatthey meet
the
efforts of half-way the mea.sures for their good which the
private in-
dividuals government might establish? Were it to
depend upon rulers,their own education will
firsthave to be improved, for thishas for a
long time suffered, owing to the great mistake
thatthey have beenallowed to meetwithno
opposition in their youth.
A tree which stands in a field alone grows
crooked and spreads wide its branches ; while B
tree which stands in the middle Df a forest, with
the pressure of othertreesaround, grows taU
andstraight, seeking airandsunshine from
above. I t is the same with rulers. In any catie
it is alway’s better that they should be educated
by some one among their subjects, rather than
by one of themselves. We cantherefore only
expect progress t o be brought about by rulers if
their education has been of a higher kind than
that of their subjects.
It depends, then, mainly upon. private effort,
andnot BO muchonthe help of rulers, as
Brtsedow andothere pupposed ; for we find by
experience thattheyhavenottheuniversal
lNTRODUCTION 17
good SO much in view, as the well-being of the

state, whereby they may attain their own ends.
If, however, they provide funds for this object,
the drawing up of the scheme must be deferred
tothem. So it is witheverything whichcon-
cerns the perfection of man’s intellect and the
widening of his knowledge. Influence and money
alonecannot do it ; theycan only lighten the
task.Theymight do it, if only the financial
authorities of the state were not SO anxious to
calculatebeforehand theinterests which any
sums spent for this purpose might bear for the
treasury.Evenacademic bodies hithertohave
noiundertaken the task, and the likelihood that
they will do so in the future is now as small as
ever.
The management of schools ought, then, to
depend entirely upon the judgment of the most
enlightenedexperts. All culture beginswith
the individual,onemangraduallyinfluencing
others. I t is only through the efforts of people
of broader views,who takeaninterest in the
universal good, and who are capable of enter-
taining the idea of a better condition of thingH
in thefuture,thatthegradualprogress of
human nature towards its goal is possible. Do
0
18 TIIOCGHTS ON EDUCATION
Tye notstillmeet, now and then, with a ruler

who looks upon his peoplemerely as forming
part of the animal kingdom, and whose aim it
is merelyto propagatethehumanspecies? If
he considers the subject of training the intellect
at all, it is merely in order that his people may
be of inore use to him in working out his own
ends. It is, of course,necessary for private
individuals to keep thisnaturalendin view,
but they must also bear in mind more particu-
, larlythe development of mankind,and see to it
that men become not only clever, but good ; and,
what is most difficult, they must seek to bring
posterity nearer toa state of perfection than they
have themselves attained.
Educntion 18. Through education,then,man must be
includes
(?) Dis- made-
ciplme
(2) cui- First, subject to discipline; by which we
ture
(3) ~ i ~ - understand that influence which is always
must
cretion
j4) plo- restraining our animal nature from getting the
ral
ing
better of our manhood,either inthe individual
ns such, or inmanas a member of society.
Discipline, then, is merely restrainingunruli-
ness.
Secondly,education must also supplymen
with culture. This includes information and
ISTKODUCTION 19
iustruction. It isculture which bringsout
ability. Ability isthe possession of a faculty
which is capable of being adaptedtovarious
ends. Ability, therefore, does not determine
anyends, but leaves that to circumstances as
they arise afterwards.
Someaccomplishments areessentially good
for everybody-reading and writing,for instance ;
others, merely in the pursuit of certain objects,
suchas music, which we pursueinorderto
make ourselves liked. Indeed,thevarious pur-
poses to which abilitymay be putare almost
endless.
-Thirdly, education must also supply a
person with discretion (Kluglleit), so thathe
may be able to conduct himself in society, that
hemay be liked, andthat he maygainin-
fluence. For this a kind of culture is necessary
which we call wjnement (Cirilisiewng). The
latterrequiresmanners, courteby, and a kind
of discretion which will enahle himto w e all
men for his own ends. This refinement changes
according totheever-changingtastes of dif-
ferent ages. Thus some twenty or thirty
years ago ceremonies in social intercourse were
still the fashion.
0 2
Fourthly, nloral training must forma part

of education. It is notenough that aman
bhall
be fitted for any
end,
but
his disposition ~
must beso trainedthatheshall choose none

but goodends-good endsbeingthosewhich
are necessarily approved by everyone, and which
may atthesametime be theaim of every-
one.
Moral 19. Man may be either broken in, trained,
training
is still and mechanicallytaught, or hemay be really
too much
neglected enlightened., Horses and dogs are broken i n ;
and man, too, may be broken in.
I t is, however, not
enough that children
should be merely broken i n ; for it is of greater
importancethattheyshalllearnto think. By
learningtothink,man comesto actaccording
to fixed principlesandnot at random. Thus
we see that a realeducationimpliesagreat
deal. Butas a rule,inourprivateeduwtion
the fourth and m o s t importuntpoint i s stdl tG0
much qbeglected, children being for the most part
educated in such a way that moral training is
left to the Church. And yet how important it is
that children should learn from their youth up
to detest vice ;-not merely on the ground that
God has forbidden it, but because vice is detest-
ablein itself. If children do not learnthis
early, they are very likely to think that, if only
God had not forbidden it,there wouldbe no
harminpractising wickedness,
an’d thatit
would otherwise beallowed, and that therefore
He would probably make an exception now and
then.But God isthe most holy being, and
wills only what is good, and desires that we may
love virtue for its own sake, and notmerely
because He requires it.
We lire in an age of discipline, culture, and
refinement, but we are still a long WSY off from
the age of moraltraining. According to the
pregent conditions of mankind, one might say
that theprosperity of the state grows side by
side with the misery of the people. Indeed, it is
still a question whether we should not be hap-
pier in an uncivilised condition, where all the
culture of the present time would find no place,
than we are in the present state of society ; for
how can man be made happy, unless he is first
made wise andgood? And untilthisismade
ourfirstaimtheamount of evil will not be
lessened.
20. Expe,elimental schools must first be estab- ~~~~~~-
lished before we canestablish noma1 s c h o o h ~E ::
#
22 TITOUGHTS ON EDUCBTIOX
Education and instruction must not be merely

mechanical;theymust be founded upon fixed
principles ; although at the same time education
must not merely proceed byway of reasoning,
but must be, in a certain sense, mechanical.
In ,Austria thegreaternumber of schools
used to be normal schools, andthese n-ere
founded andcarried onafter a fixed plan,
against which much hns been said, not without
reason.The chief complaint againstthem was
this,thattheteaching in them was merely
mechmical. But all other schoolswereobliged
to form themselves afterthepattern of these
normal schooln, because government even refused
to promote persons who had not been educated
in these schools. Thisis an example of how
government might interfere in the education of
subjects, and how much evil mightarisefrom
compulsion.
People imagine, indeed, that experiments in'
education are unnecessary, andthat we can
judge from our reason whether anything is good
or not. This is a great mistake, and experience
teaches us that the results of an experiment are
often entirely different from what we expected.
Thus we see that, since we must be guided
INTRODUCTION 23
by experiments, EO one generation can set forth '
complete
a scheme of edumtion. The only
experimentalschoolwhichhadin a measure
madeabeginning to clear the waywas the
Dessau Institute.
This
must be saidin
its
praise, in spite of the many mistakes withwhich
we mightreproachit-mistakeswhichattend'
all conclusions made from experiments-namely,
that still more experiments are required.
This school was in a, certain way the only one
in which the teachers were free to work out their
own methodsand plans, andin which the
teachers were in communication with each other
end with all the learned men of Germany.'
21. Educationincludesthe nurtzwe of the For edu-
cators
child and,asit grows, its culture. Thelatter we may
say eduoa-
is firstly negative, consisting of discipline; that tion con.
sists of
is, merelythecorrecting of faults.Secondly,
culture is positive, consisting of instruction and l:iy
guidance (and thus forming part of education). work of
parents),
Guidance meansdirecting the pupil in putting (2) In.
structlon
into practice what he has been taught. Hence (the work
of school-
the differencebetween a private teacher who teachers),
merely instructs,anda tutor or gocemor who ;'
Guid-
ance
I In the editions of Rink and Schubert 5 27 follows (the Work
here.-(Tr.)See p. GO. of private
. tutors)
guides and directs his pupil. Theone trains for

school only, the other for life.
Education 22. Education is either private or public.,
is either
private or Thelatteris concernedonlywith inst'ruction,
public
and this canalways remain public. The carry-
ingout of what is taughtis left toprivate
education. A completepubliceducation isone
which unitesinstructionandmoralculture.
Its aim is to promote a good private education.
A school which doesthis is called an educational
institute.Therecannot be manysuchinstitu-
tions, and the number of children in them can
be but small, since the fees must of necessity be
high, for the institutions require elaborate man-
agement, which entails a good deal of expense.
It is .the same as with almshouses and hospitals.
Thebuildingsrequired for them, and
the
salaries of directors,overseers, andservants,
take away at oncehalf of thefunds, so that
there can be no doubt that the poor!wouldbe
better provided for, if all that money were Rent
directtotheir 'houses. Forthisreason it is
also difficult to provide that any but the children
of rich people should share in these institutions.
The aim 23. The object of such p b l i c institutions t i s
of public
education these is the improvement of homeeducation.
IKTRODUCTION 25
If only parents, or those who are their fellow- is the

perfecting
helpersinthe work of education, werewell of home
education
educatedthemselves, the expense of public
institutionsmight be avoided. Thepurpose of
.theseinstitutions is tomakeexperiments, and
toeducateindividuals, so thatintimea good
private education may arise out of these public
institutions.
24. Home education is carriedoneither by Home
education
the parents themselves, or, should the parents andits
chief
not have the time, aptitude, or inclination for it, difficulty
by others who are paid to assistthem in it.
But
in education
which is carried
on by these *
assidante one very great difficulty arises-
namely, the divieion of authority between parent
andteacher.The child is called uponto obey
theteacher’srule,and atthesametime to
follow hisparents’ whims.Theonly way out
of this difficulty is for the parents to surrender
the whole of their authority to the tutor.
25. How far,then,hashomeeducationan Public
education
advantage over public education, or rice rersci? is, on the
Regarded not
only from the point of view of the
developing ability, but also ad a preparation
for the duties of a citizen, it must, I am inclined
to think, beallowed that, on the whole, .public
education isthe best. Home education fre-

quentlynot only fostersfamilyfailings,but
tendstocontinue t,hese failings in the new
generation.
Education 26. Hou Zony, then, shouldeducation last?
should
continue Tilltheyouthhas reached that period of his
till ‘about
the six. life when naturehasordainedthatheshall be
gearteenth capable of guiding his own conduct; when the
instinct of sex has developed iuhim,andhe
can become a father himself, andhave to
educatehis own children. This period is
generally reached about thesixteenth yea.r.
After this we may still make use of some means
of culture, and secretly exerciRe some discipline ;
but of education intheordinary sense of the
word we shall have n o further need.
The first 27. Inthe first period of childhood the child
period of
a child’s mustlearn submission and positive obedience.
training is
One of I n the next stageheshould be allowed to think
mechmi-
ca,, the for himself, andto enjoy a certainamount
second of freedom, although still obliged to follow
one of
moral certain
rules. Inthe first
period there is a,
constraint
mechanical, in the second a moral constraint.
Submis. 28. The child’s submission is either positive .
sion is
or negatice. Yositire in that he is obliged to do
positive or I Rink and Schubert read : ‘ passive.’-(Tr.)
negative
INTRODUCTION 27
what heis told, because hecannotjudge for

himself,andthefaculty of imitation is still
strong in him; or wegatire, in that he is cbliged
to do what others wish him to do, if he wishes
othersto do him a good turn.' In the former
case, the consequence of not obeying is punish-
ment;inthelatter, the fact that people do
not comply with hie wishes. He is in this case,
though capable of thinking for himself,de-
pendent on
othera with regardtohis own
pleasure.
29. One of the greatest problems of educa- In the
develop-
tion is how to unite submissionto theneces- ment of
moral
sary,restraint with the child'scapability of constraint
it is ne.
exercisinghis freezcill-for restraint is neces- oessary to
sary. How am I to develop the sense of $:i:b-
freedom inspite of therestraint ? I am to with the
exercise of
accustom my pupil to endure a restraint of his freewill
by the
freedom, andatthesametime I a m to guide child
him to use his freedom aright.Withoutthis
alleducationis merelymechanical, andthe
child, when his education is over, will never be
able to make a proper use of his freedom. He
should be madeto feel earlytheinevitable
' Vogt's text is here obviously corrupt. The reading given
i s taken from the editions of Rink and Rchabert.-(Tr.)
opposition of society, thathemaylearn how

dificultitis to support himself, to endure
privation, and to acquire those things which are
necessary to make him independent.
The child 30. Here we must observe the following :-
should be
allowed First, we must allow the child from his
perfect
liberty, earliest childhood perfect liberty in every re-
spect (except on those occasions when he might.
time he
must be
hurt himself-as,for instance, when he clutches
taught to at a knife), provided that in acting so he does
respect
theliberty not interfere with theliberty of others.For
of others,
and sub- instance, as soon as he sc,reams or is too
mit him-
self to a boisterously happy,he annoys others.
restraint
which Secondly, he must be shown that he can
lead
to a right
only attainhis own ends by allowing othersto
use of attaintheirs.Forinstance, should he be dis-
future
liberty obedient, or refuse tolearnhis leesons, heought
to be refused anytreathemay have been
looking forward’to.
Thirdly, we must prove to himthatre-
straint is only laid upon him that he may learn
in time to use his liberty aright, and that his
mind is being cultivated so that one dayhe
may be free; that is, independent of the help of
others. This is the last thing a child will come
to understand. It is muchlater in life th@
INTRODUCTION 29
children realise suchfacts asthatthey will

afterwards have to support themselves ; for they
imagine that they can always go on as they are
in their parents' house, and that food and drink
will always be providedfor them without any '
troubleontheirpart.Indeed,unlesschildren,
and especially the children of rich parents m d
princes, are made to realise this, they are like
the inhabitants of Otaheiti, who remain children
all their lives.
Again, we see the advantage of public educa- whole-
The
tioninthatundersuch a system, we learn to some
competi-
measure our powers with those of others, and to tion of
L
school life
kn0.w the limits imposed upon us by the rights
of others.Thus we canhave no preference
shown us, because we meet with opposition
everywhere, and we can only make our mark
andobtainanadvantage over others by real
merit. Publiceducation isthe best school for
future citizens.
Thereisyetanother difficulty to be men-
tioned here-that is, the difficulty of anticipat-
ing the knowledge of sexual matters in such a
manner as to prevent vice at the very outset
of manhood.This, however, will be discussed
later on,
30 THOUGHTS OX EDUCATION
Education 31. Education

is
either physical or practi-
may be
divided cal.’
One part of physical education is that
into
physical which man has in common with animals, namely,
and ‘prac-
tical feeding and tending. ‘Practicccl ’ or moral
training is that which teaches a man how to live
as a free being. (We call anything ‘practical’
which has reference to freedom.) Thisisthe
education of a personal character, of. a free
being, who is able to maintain himself,,and to
take hie proper place in society, keeping a t the
sametime a proper sense of his own indi-
viduality.
(1) 1”- 32. This ‘practical ’ education consists, then,
struotlon
makes of threeparts :-
man valu-
able
as
an (a) The ordinary cuwiculum Of the school,
individual
(for him. where the child’s general ability is developed-
(2) Prac-
the work of the schoolmaster.
tical edu- (b) Instructioninthepracticalmatters of
cation
makes life-to act
with wisdom and discretion-the
him valu-
able a8 a work of the private tutor or governess.
citizen
(for the (c) The training of moral character.
state and
society) Men need thetraining of school-teaching or
ral(3)
tram-
Eao- indruction to develop the ability necessary to
ingmakes succesa in the various vocations of life. School-
him valu-
able as a teaching besfoms upon each member anindi-
human
being (for vidud vdue of his own.
mankind)
INTRODUCTIOlr’ 31
Next, by learning the lesson of discretion in

the pract,ical matters of life, he is educated as
a citizen,and becomes of value tohis fellow-
cit.izens, learning both how toaccommodate
himselfto their society and also how to profit
by it.
* ~-
Lastly,moraltrainingimpartstoman a
value with regard to the whole human race.
33, Of thesethree divisions of education Sahool-
teaching
school-teachingcomes jwt in order of time ; is the
earliest,
for achild’sabilitiesmustfirst be developed moral
and trained, otherwise he is incapable of gaining lEyLt
knowledge in the practical matters of life. Dis- in Order
of time
oretion isthefaculty of usingourabilities
aright.
, Moral training, in as far as it is based upon
fundamental principles which a man must him-

self comprehend,comeslast in order of time.
In so far,however, asitis based on common
sensemerely, it must be takenintoaccount
from t,he beginning, atthesametimewith
physical training; for if moraltraining be
omitted, many faults will take root in the child,
against whichallinfluences of education at a
later stage willbe powerless. As *to ability and
the generalknowlcdge of life, everything must
32 THOUGHTS ON EUUCSTIOPT
dependentirelyupontheage of the pupil. Let ~
a child be clever after the manner of children ;

let him. be shrewd and good-naturedin a
childish way, but not cunning (Zistig) like a man.
Thelatter is as unsuitable for a child &S a
childish mind is for a grown-up person. 0
CHAPTER I1
PHYSICAL EDUClTION
34. ALTHOUQH those who undertake the home The pri-

vate tutor,
education of childrendonothavethem en- as the
confidant
trusted to their care so early as to have charge of the
of their physical education, at the same time it fi:$'f9
is useful for them to know all that is necessary :;thing
to, carryoutthispart of a, child's education of the
physlcal
from firsttolast.Thoughthetutormay only training
of child-
haveto dowitholderchildren, it mayhappen ren
that others may be born in the house, and if he
conductshimself wisely he will alwayshave a.
claimto become the confidant of theparents,
and to be consulted about the physical training
of thelittle ones ; the more so asoftenthe
tutor is the onlywell-educatedperson in t'he,
house. He should therefore
havepreviously
made himself acquainted with the subject of. the
physical education of children.
55. Physical training,
properlyspeaking,
D
34 T€IOUGRTS ON EDLfCA4TfON
consistsmerelyin thetendingand feeding of

the child, usually the work of parents or nurses.
The The nourishment which Nature has provided
‘ mother’s
milk is fortheinfantisthemother’smilk,anditis
the best
nourish- better for both when the mother is able to nurse
ment for
infants her child. That the child’s disposition is affected
in this may, however, is mere prejudice, though
one often hears it said of some trait of character :
‘ You have imbibed that with your mother’s
milk.’
We must, however,make an exception in
extreme cases, such as when the mother’s condi-
tionisunhealthy. It was formerly believed
that the firstmilkgivenby themotherafter
the birth of the infant, which resembles whey,
is unwholesome, andmustfirst be removed
before the child is nursed.
Rousseau,however, called theattention of
physicianstothispoint,toascertainwhether
this first milk might not be useful to the child,
since Nature has made nothing in vain, and it
was actually found thatthe refusewhich is
always metwith in anew-bornchild,which
is known amongdoctorsas meconium, is best
removed by this milk, which is therefore useful
and not harmful to the child.
' 38. Thequestion has beenaskedwhether Ayimal's
mllk IS a
an infantmightnot be as well brought up on poor sub-
stitote
the milk of animals; but human milk isvery
different in substance from the milk of animals.
The milk of allthoseanimalswhich live on
grass and vegetables very soon curdles, if any-
thingsour is addedtoit-tartaricacid, for
inetance,citric acid, orespecially the acid of
rennet.,Humanmilk, on theotherhand, does
not curdle. But should the mother or nurse take
a vegetablediet for a few days,her milk will
curdle in the sameway as cows' milk, &e.; though
when she has returned to a meat diet for a little
while,hermilk will again become as good as
evh. From this it has beenconcluded that it
is best andmosthealthy for themother or
nursetoeatmeatduringthenursing period.
When children throw up the milk, it ie found to
be curdled.Theacidinthe child's stomach
mustthereforeacceleratethecurdling of the
milk more thananyotherkind of acid,since
human milk cannot be brought to curdle in the
ordinary way. Howmuch womewould it be if
milk weregivento the childwhichcurdled of
itself! We see, however,from the customs of
othernation8withregardto thebringing up
D 2
36 THOUGHTS ON ZDUCATION
of their infants, that everything does not depend ~
on this.
There is a certain tribe of Russians in Asia
who eat scarcely anything but meat, and are a
strongand
healthy people. They are not,
however,verylong lived, andare of such a
slight build that a full-grown youth, whom one
would hardly expectto be so light,can be
carried as easily as a child. On the other hand
Swedes, andmoreparticularlyIndiannations,
eat scarcely anymeat,andyettheirmenare
tall
and well-formed. It seems, then, from
these cases that all depends on the good health
' of the nurse, and that the bestdiet for mother
or nurse is that which best agrees with her.
After milk 37. Thequestion herearises as to how the
may
be given, child is to befed if themother's milkshould
but no
wme,
cease. For some time past
all
sorts of
spices, farinaceous foods havebeen tried,butsuch food
or salt
is not good for the child from the beginning.
We must especially bear in mind that
nothing stimulating be given to the child, such
as wine, spices, salt, &c. It is a singular fact,
however, that children havesuch a strong
craving for things of this sort ; this is because
they act as a stimulant, and arouse their as yet
PHYSICAL EDUCATION 37
undereloped appetites in a manner pleasant to

them. In Russia, it istrue,childrenare given
brandy to drink by their parents, who are great
brandy-drinkers themselves, andithas been
noticed thatthe Russians are a strongand
healthy people. Certainly the fact of their being
able tostand such a habit proves thatthey
must have a good constitution : nevertheless, it
is a fact that many who otherwise might have
liveddie in consequence of it. For suchearly
stimulus to the nerves isthe cause of many
disorders. Children should be carefullykept
even from too warm foods and drinks, as they
are very apt to weaken the constitution.
58. Further we should notice that children Children
not
need not be very warmly clad, for their blood is ought
to be kept
already naturally warmer than that of the full- :frn,
grown. The heat of a child's blood reaches 110" :$$
Fahr., while the blood of a grown man or woman their
hunger be
reaches only 96". A childwouldbestifled in artifioiaily
excited
the ~ a m edegree of warmth which his elders
wouldenjoy. It is not goodevenfor grown-up
people to dress too warmly, to cover themselves
up, andto accustom themselves to too warm
drinks,for cool habits above allmake people
strong. Therefore it is goodfor a child to have
38 THOUGHTS ON EDUCL44TfON
a cool and hard bed. Cold baths also are good.

No stimulant must be allowed in order to excite
the child's hunger, for hunger m u d only be the
consequence of act'ivityand occupation.How-
ever, the child mustnot be allowed so to
accustom himself to anything as to feel the loss.
of it. It is betternottoencourageartificially
.the- formation of habits either good or bad.
The CUB- 39. Among savage
nations the
custom of
tom of
swathing swathing infants is never
observed.
Savage
children
is useless nations in America, for instance, make holes in
and even
harmful the
earth,
andstrew
them with dustfrom
rotting trees, which serves to keepthe children to
acertainextent clean anddry. I n these holes
the children lie, covered with ,leaves, having ex-
cept for this covering, the free use of their limbs.
It issimply for the sake of our own con-
venience that we swathe our
children like
mummies, so that we may not have the trouble
of watchingtheminordertopreventtheir
limbsfromgettingbrokenorbent.Andyet it
oftenhappensthatthey dogetbent, just by
swathingthem. Also it makesthechildren
themselves uneasy, and they are almost driven
to despair on account of their never being a,bleto
usetheir limbs. And then peopleimagine that
by calling to the child they stop its crying. But
suppose a grown man were to be subjectedto
thesametreatment,and we shall soon see
whether he, too, would not cryand fall into
uneasiness and despair.
In general we must bear in mind that early
education is only negative-that is, y e .have not
to add anything to the provision of Nature, but
merely to see that such provision is duly carried
out. If any addition to this is necessary on our
'
part, it mustbe the process of hardening thechild.

For this reason, also, we must give up the habit
of swathing our children. If, however, we want
to use some kind of caution, the most suitable
arringement wouldbe a kind of box covered
with leatherstraps,suchastheIt'alians use
and call arcuccio. The child is never taken out
of this box, even when nursed by itsmother.
This protects the child from the chance of being
smothered when sleepingwith itsmotherat
night, while with us manychildren lose their
lives in this way. Thisarrangement is better
then swathing the child, since it allows greater
freedom for the limbs, while at the same time it
serves 8 s a protectionagainstanythingthat
might hurt or bend its body.
Rooking, 40. Another

custom belonging to early
also is
obj&ion- educationis the rocking of babies. The easiest
able
way of doing this is the way some peasants do
it. The cradle is hung by a cord to the rafter,
and, when the cord is pulled, the cradle rocks of
itself from side to side. Rocking, however, is
altogether objectionable, for the swinging back-
wards and forwards isbad for the child. We
see th& among grown people, in whom swinging
often produces a feeling of sickness and giddiness.
By swinging, nurses want to stun the child, so
that he should not cry. But crying is a whole-
some thing for a child, for when a child is born
end draws itsfirstbreaththe course of the
blood inits veins is altered, which causes a
painful sensation ; the child immediately cries,
and the energy expended in crying develops and
strengthens the various organs of its body. To
run at once to a child's help when he cries-to
sing to him, as theway of nursee is-is very bad
for the child, and isoften the beginning of spoiling
him, forwhen he sees hegetsthings by crying '
for them he will cry all the more.'

41. Children are usually taught to walk by
I In the editions of Rink and Schubert $5 51 and 48
follow here.-(Tr.)
means of leading-stringsandgo-carts;but, Leading-
strings
whenonecomes to tbink of it, it Seems a Sur- and go.
prisingthingthat people should insist upon z:t:r-are
teaching children how to walk, as if ever a
human being had beenfound to be unable to former,
at any
wa.lk for want of instruction. Besides, leading- rate,
hurtful
stringsare especially
bad for the child. A
writer once remarked that he had no doubt that
the asthma fromwhich he sufferedwas due to
the use of leading-strings when he was a child,
which he thought had narrowed his chest. For
sinc,e a child takes hold of everything or picks
up everything from the floor, his chest is con-
fined by the leading-strings ; and since the chest
is dill undeveloped, any pressure tends to flatten
it, andthe form itthentakesisretained in
after-life. Besides this, children do not learn to
walk so surely as when they walk by themselves.
The best plan is to let children crawl, until by
degrees they learn of themselves to walk. To
prevent them from hurting themselves with '
splinters from the floor, a woollen rug might be

laid down, which would serve at the same time
to break their fall.
It iscommonly said that children fall very
b e a d y ; they do not, however ; m d it does
42 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATlON
them no harmto fall sometimes. They learn

all the sooner to find their balance, and to fall
without hurting themselves.
I t iscustomary to protect t.he child’s head
with a kind of wide-brimmed bonnet, which is
supposed to prevent it from falling on its face.
But it is a merely negative education which
consists in employing artificial instruments,
instead of teaching the child to use those with
which Naturehasalready provided him. Here
the natural instruments are the child’s hands,
which he will manage to use to steady himself.
The more artificial instruments we use, the more
do we become dependent on instruments.
Instru- 42. Generally speaking, it would be better if
ments fewer instruments were used, and children were
should,
as far as allowed to learn more things by themselves.
possible,
be dis- They would then learn them more thoroughly.
pensed
with For example, it is quite possible that a child
mightlearn to write by itself; forsomeone
must at one time have discovered this for
himself, andthe discovery is not such a very
difficultone. For instance, if a child asked one
for bread, one might ask him to draw a picture
of whathe wanted--he might then, perhaps,
draw a, roagh.ova1; on being asked to describe
PHYSICAL EDUCATlON 43
his wants a little more accurately-for an oval

mightas wellbe a stone as a loaf-he might
then be led on to express the letter B in some
way, and so on. The child mightinpenthis
own alphabet in this way, which he would
afterwards only have to exchange for other
signs.
43. There are some children whocome into Stays,
are
the world with certain defects.Are thereno which
some.
means of remedying these defects ? It has been
decided, according tothe opinion of many gr$
learned writers, that stays are of no use in such in the
figure,
cases, but rather tend to aggravate the mischief generally
increase
by hinderingthecirculation of the blood and the mis-
himours,andthehealthy expansion of both chief
theouterandinnerparts of the body. If the
child is left free he will exercise his body, and
a man who has worn stays is weaker on leaving
them off than a man who has never put them
on. Perhaps some good might be done for those
who are born crooked by more weight being put
upon the side where the muscles arestronger.
Thie, however, is a dangerous practice, too, for
who is to decide what is the right balance?
It seems best that the child should learn
use his limbs, and remedy this defect by keeping
his body in a certain position, even though he

mag find it trouhlesome, for no instruments are
of any use in such caees.
An ener- 44. All these art,ificial contrivances arethe
vating
influence more hurtful in thattheyrun counterto the
is as
muoh to aim of Nature in making organised and reason-
as an
able beings ; for Nature requires them to keep
over- their freedom, in order that
they may learn
hardenin
process how to use their powers. All that education
can do in this matter is toprevent children from
becoming eJemi7zate. Thismight be done by
accustoming them to habits of hardiness, which
isthe opposite of effeminacy. It isventuring
too much to want to accustom children to every-
thing. Russians have madethe mistake of
going too far in this direction, and consequently
an enormous number of their childrendie young,
from the over-hardening process. Habit is the
result of theconstantrepetition of any one
enjoyment or action,untilsuchenjoyment or
action becomes a necessity of our nature. There
is
nothingto which children become more
easily accustomed, and which should be more
carefully keptfrom them,than suchhighly
stimulating things as tobacco, brandy, and warm
drinks. Once acquired, it is very difficult to
give up these things ; and giving them up causes
physical disturbances at first, since the 'repeated
use of anything effects a change in the functions
of the different organs of our body. The more
habits a manallows himself to form, theless free
and independent he becomes; for it is the same
wit8h man as with a811other animals ; whatever
he has been accustomed to early in life always
retains a certain attraction for him in after.life.
Children, therefore, must be prevented from
forming any habits,nor should habits be fostered
in them.
45. Many parents want to get their children R ~ ~
used to
anythingand
everything.But
this is be
60 good. For human nature in general, as well ~~~
as the natureof certain individuals in particular, and drink-
1ng
will not allow of such training, and consequently
many children remain apprentices all their lives.
Some parents, for instance, would have their
chi1,dren go to sleep, get up, and have their
meals whenever they please; but in order that
theymay do this with %impunity,theymust
follow a special diet, a diet which will strengthen
the body, and repair the evil which this irregu-
larity causes. We find, indeed, manyinstances
of periodicity inNature also. Animals have
46 THOUGHTS O N EDUCATlON
theirappointedtime to sleep, and man should

accustom himself to B certaintime, 'thatthe
functions of the bodybe noi disturbed. As to
the other matter, that children ought to eat at
any hour, we cannot well adduce here the case
of t,he animal as an example ; ag, for instance,
allgrass-eatinganimals get but littlenourish-
ment eachtimethey eat, thereforegrazing is
necessarily a constant occupation with them. It
is, however, very important for man always to
eat at regularhours. Many pa,rents try to
accustomtheirchildren to enduregreat cold,
badsmells, andnoises;this, however, isquite
unnecessary, the only thing needful being to
prevent them from forming habits. And for this
it is beet that they shall not always be subject
to the same conditions.
Be~e~e 46. A hard bed ismuchmorehealthythan
:fE$z a soft one ; and,generally speaking, severe
tothe education is very helpful instrengtheningthe
body. By a severe education we must under-
stand merely that which tends to preventone '
fromtaking one's ease. Remarkableexamples

in confirmation of this assertion are not lacking,
onlythey arenot observed, or, to speak more
correctly, people will not observe them.
PIIYSICAL EDUCATION 47
47. W t h regard to the training of character Discipline

must be
"which we may indeed call also, in a certain strict
sense, physical culture--we must chiefly bear in ,$'
mind that discipline should not be slavibh. For slavish
a child ought always to be conscious of his
freedom, but always in such a nay as not to
interfere with theliberty of others-in which
case he must be met with opposition. Nany
parents refuse their children everything they
ask, in order thatthey may exercise their
patience, but in doing so they require from their
children more patiencethantheyhave them-
selves. Thisis cruel. One ought rather.to
give a child as much as will agree with him, and
then tell him 'that is enough ' ; but this decision
must be absolutely final. No attention should
ever be given to a child when he cries for any-
thing,andchildren's wishes should never be
complied with if they t,ry to extort something by
crying ; but if they ask. properly, it should be
given them, provided it is for their good. By
thisthe child willalsobecome accustomed to
being open-minded ; and since he does not annoy
anyone by his crying, everybody will be friendly
towards him.
Providence seems indeed to have given c.
48 TROUG'HTS ON EL)UC-kTION
childrenhappy,winning ways, in order that

theymay gain people's hearts.Nothing does
children more harm than'to exercise a vexatioue
and slav'ish discipline over them with a view to
breaking their self-will.
~~~t~~ 48. During the
first
eight
months of a
child
begins to
child's life its sense of sight is not fnlly developed.
cry from It experiences, it is true, the sensation of light,
some con-
scious but cannot as yetdistinguish one object from
reason
oButi0; is another. To convince ourselves of this, we have
the more
necessary only to hold up aglittering object before the
to prevent
his being
child's eyes andthen remove it ; we may at
once notice that he does not follow it with his
eyes.
At the same time a8 the sense of sight, the
power of laughingandcryingis developed.
Whenthe child has oncereached thatstage,
there is n h a y s same reasoning, however vague it
.may be, connected with his crying. He cries with
the idea that some harmhas been done him.
Rouseeau says that if you merely tap a cbild of
six months on the hand, itwill scream as if a bit
of burning wood had touched it. Here the child
has actually a sense of grievance besides the
mere bodily hurt.Parentstalk a great deal
I Rink and Schubert read : ' three.'-(Tr.)
aboutbreaking the will of their children, but
there is no need to break their will unless they
havealready beenspoilt. The spoilin;begins
when a child has but to cry to get his own way.
It is verydifficult to repair this evil later on ;
indeed, it can scarcely be done.We may keep
the child from crying or otherwise worrying us,
buthe swallows his vexation, andis inwardly
nursing anger all the more. I n ,this way the Howchild.
ren are
child becomes accustomed to dissembling and madeais
semblers
agitati.on of mind. It is, for instance, very
strange that parentsshould expect their children
to turn and kiss their hand (vide p. 89) after they
have just beaten ‘them. That is theway to teach
them dissembling and falsehood. For the child
surely does not look on the rod with any special
favour, so that he should feel any gratitude for
itschastisement,and one can easily imagine
with what feelings the childkisses thehand
which has punished him.
49. We often sayto a child: ‘Fie, for Terms of
shame! you shouldn’t do that, ’ &e. But such :LEzd
expressions are futile in this early stage of edu- ~~~~~
cation; for the child has, as yet,no sense of ~~~1~~~~

shame or of seemliness. .He has nothing to be to
ashamed of, and ought not to be ashamed. timidity
and con-
E oealment
These expressions therefore will simply make

him timid. He willbecome embarrassed before
others,and inclined tokeep away from their
company-and fyom thisarises reserve and
harmful concealment. Heisafraidto ask for
anything, when he ought to ask for all he
wants. He conceals histruecharacter, a,nd
always appears to be other than he is, when he
oughtto be able to speakfranklyand freely.
Instead of being always nearhisparentshe
shuns them, preferring to make friends with the
servants of the house.
To be 50. No better
than
this vexatious system of
oonFtantly bringing up children is that of perpetually
playing
, ~ i t and
h playing with and caressing the child ; this makes
caressmg
children him self-willed anddeceitful,and by betraying
makes
themself- to him their weakness, parents lose the neces-
willed and
deceitful sary respect in the eyes of the child. If, on the
other hand, he is so trained that he gets nothing
by crying for it, he will be frank without being
bold, and modest without being timid. Bold-
ness, or, what is almost the same thing,insolence,
is insufferable. There aremany men whose
constant insolence has given them such an
expression thattheir very Iook leadsone to
expect rudeness from them, while you have
only to 1ook.at others to see at once that they

are incapable of being rude to anyone. v o w we
can always be frank in our demeanour, provided
our franlmess be united with a certain kindness.
Peopleoftenspeak of men of rankhavinga
royal air, but this is nothing but a certain self-
sufficient manner in consequence of having met
with no opposition all their life.'
51. I t may be said with truth that the child- Working-
ren of the zcorking classes are more spoilt than $:&ts
the children of those of higher rank, for the ~ ~ ~ y B
workingclassesplaywiththeirchildren like to
spoil
their
monkeys,singingtothem,caressing,kissing, childrenin
this way,
anddancing with them. They think indeed causing
them to
theyaredoingakindness to their child in become
always running to him when he cries, and head- strong
playingwithhim, &e. ; buthe only cries the :"&
oftener. If, on theotherhand,nonotice is
taken of the child's crying, he will leave off at
last-for no one carestocontinue a fruitless
task. Once a child has become accustomed to
having all his whims gratified, it is afterwards
too late to begin to cross his will. On the other
hand, if you do not mind the child's crying, he
1 I n the editions of Risk andSohubort 57, 58, and 59

follow here.-(Tr.)
n2
will soon get tired of it. But should his fancies

always be gratified,bothhischaracterandhis
manners will be spoilt.
The child hasasyet,indeed,noidea of
manners,butit goes fartowardsspoilinghis
natural disposition, so thatafterwardssharp
measures are necessary to undo the evil caused
by earlyindulgence.When attempts are made
later on to break off the habit of giving way to
all the child’s wishes, his crying is then accom-
panied by a rage asfierce as any of which grown-
up people are capable, only that he has not the
physicalstrengthto exercise it. Thisisbut
what we must expect, for children who have
been for so longaccustomedmerely to cryto
getwhattheywant, become veritabledespots,
and are naturally aggrieved whentheir rulecomes
suddenly to an end; for even grown-up people
who have been for some time in a high position
find it very difficult if they are suddenly called
upon to abdicate.
Thr train- 62. Here we have also todiscussthetraining
in:: of the
sense of of the sense of pleamre or pain. I n thisour
pleasure
and pain work must be negative; we must see thatthe
~ ~ $ !child’s’ ~ ~eensibility
~ be notspoilt by over-indul-
kind gerxe.Love of easedoes moreharmthan all
the ills of life. Therefore it is of the utmost We must

guard
importance that children should be taught farly
to work. If they have not been over-indulged,
children are naturally fond of amusements
which are attended with fatigue, and occupations daintiness
which require exercise of strength. With regard
to pleasures, it is best not to let them be dainty,
nor toallow themto pick and choose. As a
rule, mothers spoil their children inthis way
and indulge them altogether too much. In
spite of this we very often notice that children,
and especiallyboys, are fonder of theirfather
than of their mother. This is probablybecause
mothers aretimid,and do not allow them to
use their limbs as freely as they would wish, for
fear of the children hurting themselves. While
fathers, on theother hand,althoughthey are
stern to them, and perhaps punish them severely
when theyarenaughty,yettake them out
sometimes intothe fields and do not tryto
hinder their boyish games.
53. Some people believe that in making
children wait a long time for what they want they childrm
ehould
teach them patience. This is, however, hardly not be
unneces-
necessary, though doubtless in times of illness, sarily put
&e., patience is needed. Patience istwo-fold,
54 TIIOUGHTE ON EDUCATION
consistingeither in giving up all hope or in

gaining new courage to go on.Thefirst is not
necessary,providedwhat we hope togain ie
possible; the second we should always desire, as
long as what p e strive for is right. In cases of
illness, however,hopelessness spoils what has
beenmade good by cheerfulness. But he who
is still capable of taking courage with regard to
his physical or moral condition is not likely to
give up all hope.’
The 54. The will of children, as
has been already
will of
children remarked,mustnot be broken, but merelybent
c
be insuch a way thatitmay yield to natural
In the editions of Rink and Schubert the following is
here inserted :
‘ Childrenshould not be intimidated. This happens par-
ticularly when they are addressed in terms of abuse, and are
often put to shame. A case in paint is the exclamation made
use of by many parents : ‘‘ Fie, for shame I ” It is not at all
clear why children should be ashamed of themselves forsuck- t
ing their fingers and things of that kind. They may be told
thatit isnotcustomarytodo so, or thatitis not good
manners. But only in the case of lying ought they to be told
to be ashamed of what they have done. Nature has bestowed
the feeling of shame on man in order that self-betrayal may
immediately follow upon lying.Hence, if parentsdonot
arouse shame in their children, except when they have lied,
this feeling of shame with regard to untruth will endure all
their lifetime. If, however, they are constantly put to shame,
there is produced a kind of bashfulness from which they can
never subsequently free thrmse1ves.’-(Tr.)
obstacles. At the beginning, itistrue,the bent,

not
broken-.
child must obeyblindly. I t is unnatural th$t a though st
child should command by his crying, and that ~ ~ ~
thestrong should obey the ,weak. Children is neces-
sarily
should never, even intheir earliest childhood, blind
be humoured because theycry,nor allowed to
extort anything by crying. Parents often make
a mistake in this,andt)hen, wishing to undo
theresult of their over-indulgence, they deny
their children in later life whatever they ask for.
It is, however, very wrong to refuse them with-
out cause what they may naturally expect from
the kindness of theirparents, merely for the
sake of opposing them, and tha't they, being the
weaker, should be madeto feel the superior
power of their parents.
55. To grant children their wishes is to spoil Weshould
not yield
them ; tothwart them purposely is anutterly k o a
wrong way of bringing tlzent up. The former $.:?
generally happens as long as they are the play-
things of theirparents,and especially during hand,
other
the time when they are beginning t o talk. By should we
unneces-
spoiling a, child, however,very greatharm is sarily
thwart
done, affecting its wholelife.Thosewho thwart him
the wishes of children prevent them (and must
necessarily prevent them) at the same time from
56 THOUGHTS ON EDUC.4TION
showing their anger ; but their inward rage Fill

be allthestronger, for childrenhavenotyet
learned to control themselves.
The following rules should accordingly be ob-
served with children from their earliest days :-
When they cry, and we have reason to'beliere
they are hurt, we shouldgototheirhelp. On
theotherhand, when they cry eimply from
temper,theyshould be leftalone. And this
way of dealing with them should be continued
' as they grow older. Inthis case the opposition
the childmeetswith isquitenaturel,and,
properlyspeaking,merelynegative,consisting
simply his in
not
being
indulged.
Many
children, on the other hand, get all they want
from theirparents by persistentasking. If
children are allowed to get whatever they want
by crying, they become ill-tempered ;while if they
are allowed to get whatever they want by asking,
theircharactersare weakened.Should there,
then, be no important reason to the contrary, a
child's request should be granted ; should there
be a reasontothecontrary, it shouldnot be
granted,nomatter how often the requestis
repeated. A refusal should always be final.
This will shortly have the effect of making ita

nnecessary.
repetition \
56. Supposing-what is of extremelyrare Obstinacy

should be
occurrence-thatachildshould be naturally met by
inclinedto be stubborn, it is besttodealwith io,
him in this way :“If he refuses to do anything
toplease us, we must refuse to do anything to
please him. .
Breakingachild’s will makeshima slave,
while natural opposition makes him docile.
‘57. All this we may consider as negative bffsny
fears are
training, for many weaknesses of mankind due to
proceed not so much fromlack of teachingas
from false impressions. For instance,fear of
spiders and toads, &e., is suggested to children
by theirnurses. A child would probably pick
up a spider as readily as anything else, were it
not that the nurse’s horror at the sightof spiders
has affected the childby a sort of sympathy.
Many c,hildren retain tlhis fearalltheir lives,
and in this matter always remain childish; for
spiders,thoughdangerousto flies, for whom
theirbiteis poisonous, areharmlesstomen.
In the same way the toad is as harmless as the
beautiful green frog or any other animal.
5
CHAPTER I11
INSTRUCTION (CULTURE)
In phpsi- 58. THE positive part of physicaleducation

oal train-
ing arti. is c u l t w e . It is this which distinguishesman
ficial aids
&s from theanimals.Cultureconsists chiefly in
Es!& the exercise of thementalfacuhies.Parents,
be dis- then, should giretheirchildrenopportunities
pensed
with for such exercise. Thefirstandmostimportant
ruleisthatallartificialaidsshould,asfaras
possible, be dispensed with. Thus in early child-
hood leading-stringsandgo-cartsshould be
discarded, and the child allowed to crawl about
on the ground till he learns to goby himself-
he will then walk moresteadily. For the use
of tools is the ruin of natural quickness. Thus
we want a cord tomeasureacertaindistance,
though we might as well measure it by the eye ;
or a clock to tell the time, when we might do
this by theposition of the sun; or acompass
to findour way in a forest, when we might
IPTGTBCCTION 59
instead be guided by the position of the sun by

dag, of thestars by night.Indeed, we might
even gay thatinstead of needingabo& we
might swimacrossthewater,Thecelebrated
Franklin, wonderedwhyeveryonedidn’t learn
to swim,sinceswimming is so pleasant and so
useful. He also suggested an easy may by which
to teach oneself to swim :-Standing in a brook
with thewateruptoyour neck,youdrop an
egg into the m t e r , a,nd then try to reach it. In
bendingforward to do this you willbe carried
off your feet, and, in order to prevent the water
gettingintoyourmouth, you will throwyour
headback. You are now in theproper posi-
tion for swimming, and have only to strike out
with thearmstofind yourself actually swim-
ming.
What has to be done is to see that natural
ability is cultivated.
Sometimesinstruction
is necessary ; sometimes the child’smind is
inventive
enough,
or
he
invents tools for
himself.
69. Whatshould be observed in physical phy&al
education,withrespect to thetraining of the ::$:ye
body, relateseither to the use of voluntary $;:
movements or to the organs of sense. As to develop
strength
and skill, the first of these,what is wanted is thatthe

quickness
and self- child
shouldalwayshelp
himself. For this,
con- bothstrengthand skill, quickness and self-con-
fidence
fidence, are necessary, so asto be able, for
instance, to go along narrow paths, or to climb
steep placeswith an abyssbeforeone’s eye, or
to crossaslender plank. If a mancannot do
this, he is not entirely what he might be,
Since the Philanthropinon of Dessau set the
example, many attempts of this kind have been
madewithchildren in otherinstitutions. It is
wonderful to read how the Swiss accustom them-
selves from early childhood to climb mountains,
how readilytheyventurealong the narrowest
pathswithperfect confidence, andleap over
chasms, having first measured the distance with
the eye, lest it should prove to be beyond their
powers.
Mostpeople,however,fearsome imaginary -_
danger of falling, and this fear actually paralyses
their limbs, so that for them such a proceeding
wouldbe really fraught with danger. This fear
generally grows withage, and is chiefly found
INSTRUCTION 61
in those men who work much with their heads.

For childrentomakesuchattempts is not
reallyverydangerous;theyaremuchlighter
in proporGion to their strength than grown-up
people, and for this reason do not fall so heavily.
Begides this, their bones are not so inflexible and
brittle as they become with age. Children often
puttheirstrength to the proof of their onn
accord. We often see themclimbing, for in-
stance, for noparticularreason.Runningis
a healthy exercise andstrengthensthe body.
Jumping, lifting weights, carrying,slinging,
throwingtowards a mark,wrestling,running
races, and all such exercises are good. Dancing,
so far as it is of an elaboratekind, is not so
well suited to actual childhood.
60. Exercisesinthrowing,whether it be To exer-
cise the
throwing a distance or hitting a mark, have the senses
certain
additionaladvantage of exercising the senses, games
especially theeyesight.Gameswithballsare
among the best for children, as they necessitate ;fh
healthy will
further
Generally speaking, those games are the best thisobject
which unite the development of skill with the
exercise of the senses-for example, those that
exercise the eyesight in correctlyjudging dis-
tance, Rize and proportion, in finding the position

of places in different regions by means of the
sun, &c. All these are good training. Of great
advantagealso i s local imagination, by which
we mean the capability of recalling the exact
position of placeswhere we have seen certain
things-as, for example,when we areableto
find our way out of a forest by havingnoticed
the trees we have passed. In the same way the
memoria l o c a l i ~ by
, ~ which we recall, not only in
what book we have read a certain thing, but in
what part of the book. Thus the musician. has
the keysbefore hismind’s eye, and doesnot
need to have the actual instrument before him
whilehecomposes. It is veryuseful also to
cultivate the ear of children, so that they may
know whether a sound comes from far or near,
from this side or t h d .
Difierent 61. Thechildren’sgame of ‘ blindman’s buff ’
mmeaand
theis uses
was already known amongthe Greeks, who
called it pvtv8a. Generallyspeaking,children’s
games arethesameeverywhere;those which
- are found in Germany being also foundin
FranceandEngland,and so on. Theyhave
Rink and Sohubert read : ‘ pleasure.’-(Tr.)
2 Memory for places,
INSTRUCTION 63
their principle in a certain instinct common to
all children. In ‘ blindman’s buff,’ for iqstance,
there is the desire to know ho-:. they would help
themselvesweretheydeprived of one of their
senses.
Spinningtops is singular
a game.Such
games as these furnish matter for further reflec-
tiontogrown-upmen, rtnd occasionallylead
even to important discoveries. Thus Segner has
written a treatise on the top ; and the top has
furnished an English sea-captain with material
for inventing a mirror, by means of which <he
height of thestarsmay be measuredfrom a
ship.
Children are fond of noisy instruments, such :.
as trumpets,drums,andthelike;butthese
are objectionable, since they become a nuisance
toothers. It wouldbe less objectionable,how-
ever, were children to learn how to cut a reed so
as to play on it.
Swinging is also a healthy exercise, as well
for grown-up people as for children.Children,
however, should be watched, lest they swing too
fast.
Kite-flying is also an unobjectionable game.
It calls forth skill, the flight of the kite depend-
ing on its being in a certain position relatively

to the wind.
BY game's
the child -
62. For the sake of thesegames the boywill
1e&ms en-,deny himself in his other wants, and thus train
durance
maintaihs himself unconsciously for otherandgreater
his natu- privations. Further, he will accustom himself to
ral cheer-
fulness:
and gams
constant occupation ; necertheless for that very
incandour reason these games must not be mere games, but
games havingsome end and object. For themore
a child's body is strengthened and hardened in
this way, the more surely will he be saved from
theruinous consequences of over-indulgence.
Gymnastics also are intended merely todirect
Nature; hence we must not aim atartificial grace.
On social Discipline must precede instruction. Here,
training however, in training the bodies of children Te
must also takecareto fit them forsociety.
Rousseau sags : You will never get an able man,
unless you have a street urchin first.' A lively
boy will sooner become a good man than a con-
ceited and priggish lad.
A child must learn to be neither troublesome
nor insinuating in company. He must be con-
fident at the invitation of others without being
obtrusive, and frank without being impertinent.
As a means to this end all we have to do is not t o
INSTRUCTION 65
spoil the child's nature,either by givinghim

such ideas of good behaviour as will only ,serve
tomakehimtimid and shy,or,on theother
hand, by suggestingtohim a wish toassert
himself.Nothing is moreridiculous thanpre-
cocious good behaviour and priggish self-conceit
in achild. In this last instance we must let the
child see his weakness all the more, but' at the
same time we must not overpowerhimwith a
sense of'our own superiority andpower ; so that,
though the child may develop hisown individual-
ity,heshould do so only as a member of
society-ina world which must, it is true, be
large enough for him, but also for others. Toby
in ' Tristram Shandy ' says to a fly which has
been annoying him for some time, and which he
at last puts out of the window, ' Go away, tire-
some creature ; the world is large enough for us
both,' We may each of us take these words for
ourmotto. Weneednot be troublesome t e
one another ; the world is large enough for all I
of UB,.
P
CHAPTER IV
CULTIVATION O F THE MIND
63. WE come now to the cultivation of the

Mentd mind, which also we may call. in a certain sense,
culture
may also physical.Wemust, however, distinguish be-
in a
tween natureand freedom. To givelaws to
sense be
called freedom is quite another thingto
cultivating
physica'~
so far ES
nature. The nature of the body and the nature
-n$:;;! of the mind agree in this, that culture goes to
from prevent the spoiling of either,andthatartadds
' practi-
cal ' somethingtoboth.Wemay,therefore, call the
cultivation of the mindphysical, i n - a certain
sense, justas well asthecultivation of the
body.
This phJsical cultivation of the mind, how-
ever, must be distinguished from moral training,
in that it aimsonly atnature, whilemoral
training aims at freedom. A man may be
highly cultivated physically, he may have well-
CULTIVATION OF THE MIND 67
cultivated mind ; but if he lacks moral culture,

he will be a wicked man.
Physical culturemust, however,be distin-
guished from ‘ p~actical’ culture, which last is
pragmatic or moral. In thislast case morality
is the aim rather than cultwe.
64. The physical cultivation of the mind may :Free’and
Rchol-
be divided into (i)free and (ii) scholastic culture. astic’
culture
Free culture is, as it were, but a pastime, while
scholastic. cultureconstitutes a business. Free
culture is that which must always be observed
with the child. In scholastic culture,onthe
other hand, the child is looked upon as under
restraint. We may be occupied in games, which
we call being occupied in our leisure time, andwe
may beoccupied by compulsion, which we call
work. Scholastic cultureconstitutes work for
the child, free culture constitutes play.
65. Various plans of educationhave been Workand
play are
drawn up by different people, in order to discover both
the best methods-a most praiseworthy under- .~~~~~~
taking. One among others suggests that ityd,”
children should be allowed to learn ecerything as ;?:;?:
it were in play. In an article in the ‘ Gottingen to make ’
play of
Magazine’ Lichtenberg ridicules the folly of work
tryingtomake everything like play for boys,
,.- ”
F 2
while theyoughtto be accustomedtoserious

business atanearly period,sincetheymust
some timeenterabusiness life. Thisis a.n
utterly preposterous notion. A child must play,
must have his hours of recreation ; but he must
also learn to work. It is a good thing, doubtless,
to exercise skill, as it is to cultivate the mind, but
these two kinds of cultureshouldhavetheir
separate hours. Moreover, it is a great misfor-
tune for 'man that he is by nature so inclined to
' inaction.Thelongera man gives way to this
inclination, the more difficult will he find it to
r
make up his mind to work.,.
Workis to 66. I n work theockpation is notpleasant
be distin-
guished in itself, but it is 'undertaken for the sake of the
from play
. by having
some
end in view. In games, on theotherhand,the
occupationispleasant in itself withouthaving
end in
view anyotherendin view. When we go for a walk,
we do so for the sake of the walk, and therefore
the fiwther we go thepleasanter it is; while
when we go to a certain place, ow object is the
company which we shall find there, or something
else, and therefore we shall naturally choose the
shortest way. The same thing happens in oard
games. It is really extraordinary how reasonable
men can sit by the hour and shuffle cards. It
c
CULTIVATION OF "HE MTND 69
is not, it seems, so easy for men to leave off
being children. For 'how is this a better game
thanthechildren's game of ball ? It is t h e
that grown men do not care to ride hobby-horses,
but they ride other hobbies.
67. It is of thegreatestimportancethat Man
needs .
children should learnto work. Man is the oocupa-
tion and
only animal who is obligedtowork. Hemust restraint;
therefore
go through a long apprenticeship before he can school~fe,
enjoy anything for his own sustenance. The withits
compul-
question whether Heaven would not have shown ;to;i
us gjeater kindness by supplying all our wants restraint,
is a good
without the necessity ofwork on our part must training
for the
certainly be answered in the negative, for man &ild
needs occupation, even occupation that involves
a certainamount of restraint. Just as false a
notion is it that if Adam and Eve had only re-
mained in Paradise they would have donenothing
there but sit together singingpastoralsongs and
admiring the beauty of Nature. Were this so,
they would have been tormented with ennui,just
as much as other people in the same position.
Men ought to be occupied in such a way that,
filled with the idea of the end which they have
before their eyes, they arenot conscious of them-
selves, endthe best rest for them is therest
which followswork. I n thesame way achild

must become accustomedtowork, and where
can the inclination to work be cultivated so well
as atschool? School is a place of compulsory
culture. I t is verybad for achild tolearnto
look upon everythingas play. Hemust, it is
true, have his time for recreation, but he must
also havehistime for work. Even though the
childdoesnot at once understandtheuse of
this restraint, later in life he will recognise its
value. It wouldbe merely training the child to
bad habits of inquisitiveness were one always to
answer his questions : ‘ What is theuse of this ? ’
or,‘What is the use of that ? ’ Education
must be compulsory, but it need nottherefore
be slavish.
The men- 68. Withregardtothe <,free’ cultivation of
tal facul-
ties ought the mental faculties, we mustrememberthat
:::&tb,”a this
cultivation is going on
constantly. It
stely, but
reallydeals
with the superior faculties. The
eachone inferiorfacultiesmust be cultivatedalongwith
in relation
to others them, but only with a view to the superior; for
“the
inferior instance,theintelligencewith a view tothe
with s
view to understanding-the principal
rule that we
:$rior should follow being that nomentalfaculty is to
1 Vogt omits the word free ’ here.-(Tr.)
CULTIVATION OF THE
MINI) 71
be cultivated by itself, but always in relation to

others ; forinstance,theimaginationto$he
advantage of the understanding.
The inferior faculties have no value in them-
selves; for instance, a man who has a good
memory,butnojudgment.Such a man is
merely a walkingdictionary.Thesebeasts of
burden of Parnassus are of some use, however,
for if they cannot do anything useful themselves
they at least furnish material outof which others
mayproduce
something good. Intelligence
divorqed from judgment produces nothingbut
foolishness. Understanding is the knowledge
of the general.Judgmentistheapplication
of the general to the particular. Reason is the
power of understanding the connection between
the
general
andthe
particular.
This
free
culture runs its course from childhood onwards
till thetimethattheyoungman is released
fromalleducation.Whenayoung man, for
instance,quotes a generalrule, we may make
him quote examples drawnfromhistory or
fable in which thisrule is disguised,passages
from the poets where it is expressed, and thus
encourage him to exercise both his intelligence
and his memory, &e,
The 69. maxim

The Tantum scimu,s, quantum
memuy
should be memoriatenemus is quite true-hence it is very
carefully
trained to necessarytocultivatethememory.Thingsare
retain
such so constituted that the
understanding
first
things
&s ore follows thementalimpression,andthememory
important mustpreservethisimpression. So it is, for
instance,inlanguages. We learnthemeither
by theformalmethod of committingthemto
memory or by conversation-this last being the,
best method for modern languages. The learning
of words is really necessary, but the best plan is
for the youth to learn words as he comes across
them in theauthorheisreading.Theyouth
shouldhaveacertainsettask. Inthe same
way geography is best learnt mechanically.
Whatis learntin mechanical
a wayis best retained
by the memory, and in a great many cases this
way is indeed very useful. The proper mechan-
ism for the study of history has yet to be found.
An attempthas beenmade inthisdirection
consisting of a system of tables, but the result
has notbeenverysatisfactory. History, how-
ever, is an excellent means of exercising the
understanding in judging rightly. Learning by
heart is very necessary, but doing it merely for
We know just so much 8s we remember.
CULTIVATION OF THE MlND 73
the sake' of exercising the memory is of no use

educationally-for instance,thelearning pf a
speech by heart. At all evente, it only serves to
encourageforwardness.Besidesthis,declama-
tionis onlyproper for grown-upmen.The
same may be said of all those things which we
learn merely for some future examination or with
a view to filtura~n oblizionem.' Thememory
should only be occupied with such things as are
important to be retained, and which millbeof
serviceto us inreal life. Novel-reading is the Novel-
reading is
worst thing for children, since they can make no bad for
children
further use of it, and it merely affords them
entertainment for themoment.Novel-reading
weakens the memory. For it wouldbe ridicu-
lous to rememher novels in order to relate them
to others. Therefore all novelsshould be taken
awayfrom
children. Whilst readingthem
they weave, as it were, aninnerromance of
their own, rearrangingthecircumstances for
themselves ; their fancy is thus imprisoned, but
there is no exercise of thought.
Distractions must never be allowed, least of
all in school, for theresult willbe acertain
propensity in that direction which might soon
Future forgetfulness.
grow into a habit. Even the finest talents may

be wasted when once a man is subjecttodis-
traction.Althoughchildrenareinattentive at
their games, they soon 'recall theirattention.
We may notice, however, that they $re most dis-
tracted when they are thinkingof some mischief,
for then they are contriving either how to hide
it, or elsehow to repairthe evil done.They
then only half hear anything, give
wrong
answers,and know nothingaboutwhatthey
are reading, &e.
The 70. The
memory must be cultivated
early,
memory
should be but we must be careful to cultivate the under-
cultivated
by learn- standing at the same time.
ingnarnes,
by reading
Thememory is cultivated (i) by learning
and writ- thenameswhicharemetwith in tales,(ii) by
ing, and by
learning readingand writing. Butastoreading, child-
languages
renshouldpractiseitwith the head,without
depending on the spelling. (iii) By languages,
which childrln should first learn by hearing,
before they read anything.
Then a well-constructed so-called orbis pictus
will provevery useful. We mightbeginwith
botany,mineralogy,
and natural history in
general. In ordertomakesketches of these
objects, drawing and modelling will have to be
CULTIVATIOX OF THE MIND 75
learned, and for this some knowledge of mathe-

matics is necessary. The first lessons in svience
will most advantageously be directed to the study
of geography, mathematical as well as physical.
Tales of travel, illustrated by pictures and maps,
will leadonto political geography. Fromthe
presentcondition of the earth's surface we go
back to its earlier condition, and this leads us to
ancient geography, ancient history, and so on.
Butinteachingchildren we must seek Knowing
anddoing
insensibly to
unite knowledge with thecarrying be
out of that knowledge intopractice. Of all the combined
sciences, mathematics seems to be the one that
best ful6ls this. Further, knowledge and speech
(ease in speaking,fluency,eloquence)must be
united.Thechild, however, mustlearn also to
distinguishclearlybetweenknowledgeandmere '
opinion and belief. Thus we preparethe way

for arightunderstanding,anda right-not a
rejned or delicate-taste. Thistastemustat
first be that of the senses, especially the eyes,
but ultimately of ideas.
71. It is necessary to have rulesfor everything The
under-
which is intended to cultivate the understanding. standing
I t is very useful mentally to separate the rules, should be
thattheunderstandingmay proceednotmerely rules
which mechanically, but with the consciousness of

should be
studied following a rule.
side by
side with It is also very useful tobringtheserules
their
applioa- into a set form, and thus commit themto
tion memory. If we keep therulein our memory,
though we forget its application, we shall soon
find our way again.
Herethe question ariseswhether therules
shall firstbe studiedinabstracto, andwhether they-
' oughtto be studied affer theyhavebeenapplied,
or whether the rule and its application should
be studied side byside. This last is the only
advisable course ; otherwise the application of
the rule is very uncertain till the rule itself is
learned.
But from time to time the rules mustalso be
arranged in classes, for it is difficult to keep them
in memory when they are not associated to-
gether. Consequently in learning languages
the study of grammar must alway8, to a certain
extent, come first.
The gene- 72. w e must nom give a systematic idea of
re1 c&
vation of the whole aim of education, and the means of
the men-
tal facul- obtaining it.
ties is in
part I. The general cultivation of the mental
physical faculties, as distinguishad from the cultication of
I
particularmental faculties.-This aims at skill -consist-
ing of dis-
and perfection, andhasnot for its ‘object cipline
and exer-
theimparting of ally particular knowledge, cise; and
butthegeneralstrengthening of themental in part
faculties. consist-
ing of
This cultureis either (a)physical-here every- ‘ maxims’
thingdepends uponexercise and discipline,
without the child needing to learn any ‘maxims’;
it is passive for the pupil, who has only to follow
the guidance of others-or (21it ) is moral,. This
depends notupon discipline, but upon ‘maxims.’1
All willbe spoilt if’ moral training rests upon
examples, threats,punishments,end so on, It
would then be merely discipline. We must see
that the child does right on account of his own
‘ maxims,’ and not merely from habit ; and not
only thathe does right,butthathe does it
because it is right. For the whole moral value
of actions consists in ‘ maxims ’ concerning the
good.
Physicaleducation,then, is distinguished
from moral in the former beingpassive,while
thelatter is active, for the child. He should
I ‘ Maxim ’ is an important term in Rant’s Moral PhizO-

scrphy, end by it must be understood general principles of right
and wrong.-(Tr.)
78 TIIOUGHTS O S EDUCATION
always understandtheprinciple of anaction,

and it5 relation to the idea of duty.
The oulti- 73. 11. T h e cdtiration of particular mefltal
vation Of jaeultie8.- This includesthecultivation of the
particular
mental faculty of cognition, of thesenses, 'the imagina-
faculties
includes, tion, memory, power of attention,andintel-
first, the
inferior ligence-in word,
a the inferior
powers of
faculties :
such as theunderstanding.
cognition,
the Of the cultivation of the senses-eyesight,
imagma-
for instance-wehave already spoken. As to
tion, the
cultivation of theimagination,
the follow-
memory,
andpower ing is to be noticed :- Children generally have
of con-
centration a very lively imagination, which does not need
to be expanded or mademoreintense by the
reading of fairytales. It needs ratherto be
curbed and brought under rule, but at the mme
time should not be left quite unoccupied. There
is something in maps which attracts everybody,
event,he
smallestchildren. Whentheyare
tired of everything else, they will stilllearn
something by means of mapa. And thisisa
good amusement for children, for heretheir
imaginationisnot allowed to rove,since it
must, as if were, confine itself to certain figures.
We mightreally begin
with
geographyin
teachingchildren.Figures of animals,plants,
f
and so on,might be added at the game time;

these will makethestudy of geography,more
lively. History, however, would probablyhave
to come later on.
Withregardtothe power of attention, we
mayremarkthatthisfacultyneedsgeneral
strengthening.The power of rigidly fixing our
thoughtsupon oneobject isnot so much a
talent as a iTeakness of our mind, which in this
case is inflexible, and does not allow itself to be
applied at pleasure. But distraction is the
enemy of all education. Memory depends upon
our attention.
74. As regards the
cultivation of the Secondly,
the oulti-
superior mewtnl faculties, this includes
the vation
cultivation of the understanding, judgment, and of the,
Duperlor
rebeon. Theunderstandingmay at first be E$&:
cultivated, in a certain way, passively also, either under-
standing,
by quoting examples which prove the rules, or, judgment,
and
on the contrary, by discovering rules for parti- reason
cular cases. Thejudgment shows uswhatuse
tomake of theunderstanding.Understanding
is necessary in order that we mayunderstand
what we learn or say,andthat we may not
repeat
anything
without
understanding it.
How many people hear and read things which
they do not understand,thoughthey believe

them! Of that kind are both images andreal
things.
I t is through reason that we get an insight
. into principles. But we must remember that
we are speaking here of a reason which still
needs guidance. Hence the child Bhould not be
encouraged to be always reagoning, nor should
we indulgeinreasoninginthe preeence of
children, aboutthings which surpass their
conception.
We are notdealinghere with speculative
reason, but only with reflection upon actual
occurrences, according to their causes and effects.
It is in its arrangement and working a practical
reason.
The best 76. The best way of cultivatingthemental
way to
under. fltculties isto do ourselves all that we wish to
accomplish ; for instance, by carrying out into
practice thegrammaticalrule which we have
learnt. We understand a map bestwhen we
are able to draw it out forourselves. The best
way to understand is to do. That which we learn
mostthoroughly,andrememberthe best, is
what we have in B way taught ourselves. There
axe but few,men, however,who are capable of
doingthis. They are called self-taught (aho-

816amoL).
78. I n the culture of reason we must prdceed rn the
culture of
according tothe Sbcratic method.Socrates,
whocalledhimself the midwife of his. hearers’ ~ ~ ~ ~ f
knowledge,gives examples in hie dialogues, the best
which Plato has in a manner preserved for us,
of the way in which, even in the ca,se of grown-
up people, ideas may be drawn forth from their
own individual reason. In many respects
children need not exercise their reason. They
must not be allowed to argue about everything.
It is not necessary for themto know the
principles of everything connected with their
education ; but when the question of duby arises,
they should be made to
understand
those
principles. But on the whole we should try to
draw outtheir own ideas, founded on reason,
rather than to introduce such ideas into their
minds. The Somatic method should form, then,
the rule for the catechetical method. True it is
somewhat slow, and it is difficuit to manage so
that in drawing ideas out of one child the othem
shall also learn something. The mechanical
method of catechising is also useful in some
sciences; for instance, inthe explanation of
a
revealed religion. I n universalreligion,’on the

other hand, we must employ the Socratic
method. As to what has to be learnthistori-
cally, the mechanicalmethod of catechising is
much to be commended.
83
CHAPTER V
MORAL CULTURE
77. M O R A L CULTURE must be basedupon ~~~~~l

culture
‘ maxims,’ not upon discipline ; the one prevents the
evil habits, the other trains the mind to think.
We must see, then,thatthe childshouldac-
custom himself toactin accordance with in accqrd-
ance wlth
‘maxims,’andnot from certainever-changing ‘maxims’
-a diffi-
springs of action.Through discipline we form cult task
certainhabits, moreover, the force of which ::z is
becomeslessened inthe course of years.The right Or
wrong is
child should learn to act according ta maxims,’ easily
con-
the reasonableness of which he is able to see for founded
with what
himself. One can easily see that there is some gains re-
ward, and
difficulty incarryingoutthisprinciplewith what doee
young children, and that moral culture demands not*
a great deal of insight on the part of parents and
teachers.
Supposing a child tells a lie, for instance, he
ought not to be punished, but treated with con-
e 2
tempt, and told that he will not bebelieved in

the future, and the like. If you punish a child
for being naughty,andrewardhim for being
good, he will do right merely for the sake of the
reward ; and when he goes out into theworld and
finds that goodness is not always rewarded, nor
wickednessalways punished, he willgrow into
a man who only thinks about how he may get on
in the world, and does right or wrong according .
as he finds either of advantage to himself.
In the 78. ‘ lllaxirl~’ ought
to
originate ,in
the
culture of
Imoxima, human being assuch. I n moraltraining we
should be
should Yeek earlytoinfuseintochildrenideas
taught as t o what is rightand wrong. If we wishto
early t o
distin- establishmorality, we must abolish punishment.
guish
between Moralityissomething so sacredand sublime
right and
wrong that we mustnotdegradeit by placing it inthe
samerank as discipline. Thefirstendeavour
in moral education is the formationof character.
Character consists in readiness to act in accord-
The ance
with
‘maxims.’ At first
they are school
sohoo!
6 m&x.ma I ‘ maxims,’ and later ‘ maxim8 ’ of mankind. At
~ o ~ first
~ the
i ~ child
e obeysrules. Maxims’arealso
by ‘ max-
rules,butsubjectiverules.They proceedfrom
ims’ of theunderstanding of man. No infringemen$ of
mankind
school discipline must be allowed to go un-
MORAL CULTURE 85
punished, although the punishment must always

fit the offence.
79. If we wish to form the character; of Method.
and strict
children, it is of thegreatestimportanceto adherence
to rule0
pointouttothem a certainplan,andcertain are of
great im-
rules, in everything; and these must be strictly
adhered to. For instance,theymusthaveset tion on
times for sleep, for work, and for pleasure ; and of ohsrac-
ter
these times mustbe neither shortened nor length-
ened. With indifferent matterschildrenmight
be allowed to choose for themselves, but having
oncemadea ruletheymust always follow it.
We must, however,form in children the char-
acter of a child,andnotthecharacter of &
citizen.
Unmethodicd men are not to be relied on ;
it is difficult to understand them, and t o know
how far we aretotrustthem. It is true we
often blame people who always act by rule-for
instance, the man who does everything by the
clock, having a fixed hour for every one of his
actions-but we blame them often unreasonably,
for this exactness, though it looks like pedantry,
goes far towards helping the formation of char-
acter.
80. Above all things, obedience is an essen-
88 THOUCHTS ON EDUCATION
Obedience tial feature in the character of a child, especially

is two-
fold : of aschool boy or girl. This obedience is twofold,
and volun- includingabeoluteobediencetohismaster's
ta*y; both commands, and obedience to what he feals to be
kinds 1:e-
inF: essen- a good and reasona,ble will. Obedience may be
tin1 to the
character the result of compulsion ; it is then absolute : or
of a child
it may arise out of confidence; it is then obedi-
ence of the secondkind. This coluntary obedi-
ence' is very important, but the former is also
very necessary, for it prepares the child for the
3 fulfilment of laws thathe will have to obey later,
as a citizen, even though he may not like them.
School 81. Children, then, must be subject to a cer-
lams must
be gene. tain law of necessity. This law,however, must
ral, and
put into be ageneral one-a rule which hasto be kept
force
without constantlyin view, especially in schools. The
partiality master must
not show any predilection or
preference for onechild above others; for thus
the law would cease to be general. As soon an
a child sees that the other children are not all
placed under the same rules as himself, he will
at once become refractory.
The idea 82. Oneoftenhearsitsaidthat we should
of duty,
apart puteverything beforechildren in such a way
f . om in-
clination, that they shall do itfrom inclination, In some
must be
cases, it is true,this is all very well, but
*
MORAL CULTURE 87
there is much besideswhich we must place imparted

early In
before them as duty. And this will be of great life
use tothemthroughouttheir life. For id the
paying of ratesand taxes, in the work of the
’office, and in many other cases, we must be led,
not by inclination,but by duty.Eventhough
a child should not be able to see the reason of a
duty, it is nevertheless better that certain things
should be prescribed to him inthis way; for,
after all, a child will always be able to see that
he has certain duties as a child, while it will be
more difficult for him to see that he has certain
duties as a human being. Were heable to
understand this also-which, however, will only
be possible in the course of years-his obedience
would be still more perfect.
88. Every transgression of a command in a Disobe-.
dience 18
child is a want of obedience, andthisbrings always
followed
punishment with it. Also, should a command be by punish.
disobeyed throughinattention,punishmentis :::&-
still necessary. This punishment either
is ~~~~~1
physical or moral. It is moral when we do
something derogatory to the child’s longing to
be honoured and loved (a longing which is an
aid to moraltraining) ; for instance, when we
humiliate the child by treating him coldly and
distantly. This longing of children should, how-

ever, be cultivated as much as possible. Hence
this kind of punishment is the best, since it is
an aid to moral training-for instance, if a child
tells a lie, a look of contempt is punishment
enough, and punishment of a most appropriate
kind.
Physical punishment consists eitherinre-
fusing a child's requests or in the infliction of
pain.Thefirst is akintomoralpunishment,
I and is of a, negative kind.
The
second
form
must be used with caution, lest an indoles seruilis'
should be theresult. It is of nouseto give
children rewards ; this makes them selfish, and
' gives rise to an indoles memenaria.2
Punish. 84. Further, obedience iseitherthat of the

merits
may also
child orthat of the youth. Disobedience is
be divided always followedby punishment.This is either
Into
natural a really natural punishment, which a man brings
and arti-
ficial uponhimself by his ownbehaviour-for instance,
punish-
menta when a, childgets ill from over-eating--and this
kind of puniRhment is the best, since a man is
subject to it .throughout his life, and not merely
during his childhood ; or, on the other hand, the
A slavish disposition.
* The disposition of a hireling.
MORAL CULTURE 89
punishment R i artificial. By takinginto con-

siderationthe child’s desireto belove$ and
respected, such punishments may be chosen as
will havealasting effect upon itscharacter.
Physical punishments must merely supplement
the insufficiency of moral punishment. If moral
punishment have no effect at all, and we have
at last to resort to physical punishment,we shall
find after all that no good character is formed in
this way.At thebeginning, however, phjsical
restraint mayserve to take theplace of reflection.
85. Punishments inflicted with signs of anger Punish-
ments
are useless. Children then look upon the punish- shouid be
inflicted
ment simplyas the resultof anger, anduponthem- with great
selves merely as the victims of that anger ; and Z:?’;
as a general rule punishment must be inflicted anger,
and
onchildrenwithgreatcaution, thattheymay always
with a
understandthatits oneaim is their improve- view to
their
ment. It is foolish tocausechildren,when object-
theyarepunished,toreturnthanks for the :izz
punishment by kissinghands,’andonly turns
the child into a slave. If physical punishment the child
is oftenrepeated,itmakesachildstubborn ;
This refers to the then very common German custom of
t makingohildren who have been punished,actuallyexpress
their gratitude by saying ‘Danke schon,’ and by kissing the
hands of the person who has punished them.-(Tr.)
and if parents punish their children for obstinacy,

they often become all the
moreobstinate.
Besides, it is not always the worst men who are
obstinate, andthey will oftenyieldeasily to
kind remonstrance.
By duty 86. Theobedience of the growing youth must
achild
under- be distinguished from the obedience of the
submis- child. The former
consists in submission to
sion to
rules. A
rules of duty. To do something for thesake of
child’s dutymeans obeyingreason. It is invainto
obedience,
therefore speak to children of duty.They look upon it in
must be
&stin. theendassomething which if not fulfilled will
guished
from the be followed by the rod. A child may be guided by
z’pce mereinstinct. As he grows up, however, the
youth, idea of dutymust come in. Also the idea of
who
under- shameshouldnot be madeuse of withchildren,
stands by
duty butonlywiththose who have left childhood for
obedience
to reason youth. For itcannot exist with themtill the
idea of honour has first taken root.
The faun- 87. Thesecond
principal feature
in
the
dation
and formation of a child’s character is truthjulness.
essence Of This is the foundation and veryessence of
character
is truth- character. man
A who tells lies has no
fulness
character, and if he has any good in him it is
merely the result of a certain kind of tempera-
ment. Some children have an inclination towards
NORAL CULTURE 91
lying,andthisfrequentlyfornootherreason
than that they have a lively imagination. .’ It is
the father’s business to see that they are broken
of this habit, for mothers generally look upon it
asamatter of little or no importance, even
finding in it a flattering proof of the cleverness
andability of theirchildren.This is thetime
to make use of the sense of shame, for the child
in this case will understand it well. Theblush
of shame betrays us when we lie, but it is not
always a proof of it, for we oftenblush at the
shamelessness of other8 who accuse us of guilt.
On nocondition must we punishchildrento
force the truth from them, unless their telling
a lie immediately results in some mischief ; then
theymay be punished for that mischief. The
qithdrawal of respect is the only fit punishment
for lying.
Punishmentsmay be divided into negative
and positice punishments,Thefirstmay be
’
applied to laziness or viciousness ; for instance,
lying,disobedience.Positive .punishmentmay
be applied to acts of spitefulness. But above ell
things we must take care never to bear children
*L a grudge.
Rink and Schubert add: ‘quarrelsomeness.’-(Tr.)
Children 88. A third feature in the child’s character

should be
is sociableness. Hemustformfriendsliipswith
encour-
aged t ootherchildren,and not be always by himself.
form
friend- Some teachers, it is true, are opposed to these
ships, to
friendships in schools, but this is a great mistake.
be cheer-
ful and
light- Childrenoughttopreparethemselves for the
hearted.
, School
sweetest enjoyment of life.
hours
should be If a teacher allowshimselftopreferone
followedchild to another, it must be on account of its
by hours
of reme&- character, and not for the sake of any talents
tion
the child maypossess;otherwisejealousy will
arise, which is opposed to friendship.
Childrenoughtto be open:hearted and
cheerful intheir looks as thesun. A joyful
heart aloneisableto find itshappinessin
the good. A religion which makes
people
gloomy is a false religion; for we should
serve God with a joyful heart, and not of con-
straint.
Children should sometimes be released from
the narrow constraint of school, otherwise their
natural joyousness will soon be quenched.
When the child is eet free he soon recovers his
naQura1elasticity.
Thosegames in which
children,enjoying perfectfreedom, are ever ,
trying to outdo oneanother, will serve this ~

MORAL CULTURE 93
purposebest, and they will soonmake their

b
minds bright and cheerful again.
89. Many people imagine that the years of The most
trouble-
their youth are the pleasantest and best of their some
period of
lives;but it isnotreally so. They arethe life is the
most troublesome ; for we are then under strict c$f
Of
discipline, canseldomchooseour own friends,

and still more seldom can we have our freedom.
As Horace says: Multa tulit, fecitquepuer,
s u d a ~ i tet alait.'
90. Childrenshouldonly be taughtthose Children
should be
things which aresuited to their age. Many taught
only what
parents are pleased with the precocity of their is suitable
offspring ; but as a rule, nothing will come of age.
to their
such children. A child should be clever, but only %y;;ocy
as a child. He should not ape the manners of must be
guarded
his elders. For a child to provide himself with against
moralsentencespropertomanhood is to go
quite beyond his province and to become merely
an imitator. He oughttohavemerelythe
understanding of a child, and not seek to dis-
play
it too
early. A precocious child will
neuer become a man of insight and clear nnder-
standing. It is just as much out of place for a
The lad [who hopes to A n the race] has borne and done
much ; he h w endured extremes of heat and cold.
child to follow all the fashions of the time, to

curlhishair, wear rufles,and even carry a
snuff-box. He will thus acquire affected manners
not becoming to a child. Polite society is a
burden to him, and heentirelylacks a man’s
heart. For that very reason we mustset our-
selves earlytofightagainstallsigns of vanity -
in a child;or,rather, we must give him no
occasion to become vain. This easily happens
5 by people prattling before children,tellingthem
how beautifultheyare,and how well this or
that dress becomes them, and promising them
some finery or otheras a reward. Finery is
notsuitable for children.Theymust accept
theirneatand simple clothesasnecessaries
merely.
At the same time the parents must not set
greatstore by their own clothes, noradmire
themselves ; for here, as everywhere, example is
dl-powerful, and either etrengthens or destroys
good precepts.
96
CHAPTER VI
PRACTICAL
EDUCATION
91. PRACTICAL educationincludes (1) skill,

(2) discretion, and (3) morality.
With regard to skill, we must see that it is Skill
must be
’ thorough,andnot
pretendto
superficial. We mustnot
know things which me afterwards
cannotaccomplish.Skillmust be characterised
thorough
I
by thoroughness, and this thoroughness should

gradually become ahabit.Thoroughnessis an
essentialelement in theforma,tion of a man’s
character, while skill is necessary for talent.
92. As regards discretion, it consists in the Discretion
consists in
art of turning our skillto account; that is, of
others for
usingour fellow-men for our own ends. For our own
this
severalthings
are
necessary.Properly :E?-his
speaking, it is the last quality attained by man, tabs
reserve
but it ranks second in importance. end self-
control
In order that a child may acquire prudence,
he must learn to dipguise his feelings and to be
e
96 TIIOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
reserved,while atthesametimehelearnsto
read the character of others. I t is chiefly with
regardtohis o m character that hemust
cultivate reserve. Decorum is theart of out-
ward behaviour, andthis is anartthat we
must possess. It is difficult to read the charac-
ters of others, but we must learn to do this nith-
outlpsingour own reserve. Forthis end a
kind of dissembling is necesmry ; that is to say,
1 me havetohideourfaults and keep upthat
outwardappearance.This is notnecessarily
deceit, and is sometimes allowable, although it
e
does border closely on insincerity.
Dissimulation, however, is butadesperate
expedient. To be prudent it. ie necessary that
we should not lose ourtemper; on the ot,her
hand, we shouldnot be tooapathetic. A man
should be bravewithoutbeing violent-two
qualities which are quite distinct. A brave man
is one who is desirous of exercising his will.
This desire necessitates control of the passions.
Discretion is a matter of temperament.
%u-mn- 93. Morality isamatter of character. Sus-
trol is the
eststep tine et abstine,' such is thepreparation for a
towards
the wise moderation. The
first step towards the
1 Endure and abstain.
/
0
PRL4CTICSL
EDUCATION 97
a
formation of a good characteristoput our tion of a
good
passions on one side. We musttakecarethat character
our
desires
andinclinations do not become
passions, by learning to go without those things
thatare denied to us. Sustine implies endure
and accustomthyself toendure. Courage and
a certain bent of mind towards it are necessary
for renunciation. We oughttoaccustomour-
selves to opposition, the refusal of our requests,
8
and so on.
' Sympathy ' is a matter of temperament. Pity a8 a
motive
Children,however,oughtto be preventedfrom should
contracting the habit of a sentimental maudlin :t;
sympathy. ' Sympathy ' is really sensitiveness,. emotional
sympathy
and belongsonly to characters of delicate feel-
ing. It is distinct fromcompassion, and it is
an evil, consisting as it does merely in lament-
1 Kent uses' the word ' sympathy ' (Sympathie)not in the
nsual Bense which the word has in both German and English,
but in the more restricted sen8e of mere feeling for suflering,
which does notleadtohelpfulaction,whilecompassion
(Miitkid) is fellow-feeling combinedwith a desireto help.
Sympathy is passive : compassion is active.
Cf. Kant's ' 'Tugendlehre ' ( We'erke,vol. ix. p. 317), where he
says that sympathy with joy or sorrow-' Mitfreude und Mit-
leiden (sympatkia moraZis) '-are mere feelings, and therefore
cannot be spoken of as moral duties, but that the duty con-
' sists in wing thesefeelings a s meansforactiveandreason-
..able benevolence (' alsMittel zur Beforderungdesthiitigen
and verniinftigen Wohlwollens ').-(Tr.)
13
I)
ing overa thing. It is a good thingto give

children some pocket-money of their own, that
they may help the needy ; and in this way we
shouldsee if they are reallycompassionateor
not. But if they are only charitable with their
parents’ money, we have no such test.
It is The
saying Festina lente expresses constant
better t o
know * activity, bywhich, we musthastentolearn a
few thinga
thorough- great deal-thatis,festina. But we must also
lY than learnthgroughly,andthisneedstime;that is,
manb
thiw Zente. The question
herearises
whether it is
super-
ficially betterto know agreatmanythings in asuper-
ficial way or a few things thoroughly. It
is betterto know butlittle,andthatlittle
thoroughly, than to know a great deal and that
superficially ; for onebecomesaware of the
shallowness of superficial knowledge later on.
Butthe childdoesnot know as yet in what
conditionhemaybewithregard to requiring
this or thatbranch of knowledge:it is best,
therefore, that he should
know something
thoroughly of all, otherwise he will but deceive
and dazzle others by his superficially acquired
knowledge.
Chmcter, 94. Our ultimate aim formation of
is the
the form-
ation of, character. Characterconsists in the firm pur-
PRACTICAL EDUCATION 99
pose to accomplish something, and then also in which

theactualaccomplishing of it. Vir pwpositi :,ikate
tenax,’ said Horace, and this is a good character. ~ ~ ~ c ~ : i o n ,
Ferinstance, if a manmakes a promise, he consists
of fixity of
must keep it, howeverinconvenientitmay be purpose,
and tp
to himself; for a man who makesaresolution carrying
out of
and fails to keep it will have no more confidence that
in himself.Suppose, for example, that aman purpose
resolves toriseearly every morningthathe
may study, or do something or other, or take ~t
walk-andexcuseshimself inspring because
the mornings are still too cold, and rising early
might injure his health, and in summer because
it is well to allow himself to sleep, and sleep is
pleasant-thusheputs off hisresolutionfrom
daytoday,untilheendsinhavingno con-
fidence in himself.
Those things which are contrary to morality
must be excludedfrom suchresolutions.The
character of a wicked man is evil; but then, in
this case, we do not call it‘character ’ any
longer,butobstinacy ; and yet there is stilla
certain satisfaction to find such a mqn holding
fast to hisresolutions and carrying them out,
1 A men who keepa steadfast to his purpose.

100 THOUGHTS OX EDUCATION
though it, wouldbe muchbetter if he showed

the same persistency in good things.
Those who delayto fulfil their resolutions
will dobutlittle in life. Wecannot expect
much good to come of so-called future con-
version.Thesuddenconversion of aman who
has led a vicious life cannot poseiblybe endur-
ing, in thatit wouldbe nothing short of a
miracle to expect a man who ha's lived in such
I a way suddenly to assume the
well-conducted
life of a man who has always had good and up-
rightthoughts. For the samereason we can
expect no good to come frompilgrimages,
mortifications, and fastings ; for it is difficult to
seehow such customs can, all at owe, make a
virtuousmanout of a vicious one. How can
it make a man more upright, or improve him in
any way, to fast by day and to feast at night;
to impose a penance upon his body, which can
in no way help towards improving his mind ?
In hying 95. To form the .foundation of moral character
the found-
ation of in children, we must observe the following:-
the child's
moral We must place
before
them the
duties
they
character,
his duties have t o perform, as far as possible, by examples
should be and rules. Thedutieswhich a child hasto
placed
before fulfil are onlythecommon dutiestowardshim-
PR4CTICAL EDUCATION 101
self and towardsothers.These duties must be him by

meam of
the natural outcome of the kind of questioh in- examples
end rules.
volved. We have thusto consider more closely :- (1) ~i~
(1) The child's duties towards lzimself.-"llhese t:J:rds
do notconsistin putting on fine clothes, in ~~~;~!&
having sumptuous dinners, and so on, although tainthe
dignity of
his food should begood and his clothing neat. man in
his own
They do notconsist in seekingto satisfyhis person;
and (2)
cravings and inclinations ; for, on the contrary, hisduty
he ought to be very temperate and abstemious. g:::z
But theyconsist inhis beingconscious that k::r!i
man possesses a certain dignity, which ennobles respect
their
him above all other creatures, and that it is his rights
duty so to act as not to violatein his own person
thisdignity of mankind.We areacting con-
trary to the dignity of man, for instance, when
we give way todrink,or commit unnatural
sins, or practise all kinds of irregularities, and
so on, all of whichplace manfar below the
animals.Further,to be cringing in one's be-
haviour to others ; to be always paying compli-
ments, in order by such undignified conduct to
ingratiate ourselves, as we assume-all this is
against the dignity of man.
We can easily find opportunities for making
children conscious of the dignity of man, even
io2 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
in their own persons. For instance, in the case

of uncleanliness,which is at leastunbecoming
tomankind.But it is reallythroughlying
that a child degrades himself below the dignity
of man,sincelyingpresupposesthe power of
thinking and of communicating one’s thoughts
toothers.Lyingmakes a manthe object of
common contempt, and iR a means of robbing
him of the respect for and trust in himself that
every man should have.
(2) T h e child’s dutiestowards others.-A
child should learn early to reverence and respect
the rights of others, and we must be careful to
see that this reverence is realised in his actions.
For instance, were a childto meet another poorer
child and to push him rudely away,or to hit
him, and so on, we must not say to the aggressor,
‘Don’tdo that, you will hurt him; you should
have pity, he is a poor child,’ and so on. But we
must treat him in the same haughty manner,
because his conduct is against the rightsof man.
Children have as yet no idea, properly speaking,
of generoeity.We may, for instance,notice
that when a child is told by his parents to share
his slice of bread-and-butter with another, with-
out beingpromised a second dice, the child either
PRACTICAL
EDUCATION 103
refusesto obey, or obeysunwillingly. It is,

besides, useless to talk to a child of generoqity,
as it is not yet in his power to be generous.
96. Manywriters-crugott, for instance- The first
duty of
have either quite omitted, or explained falsely, thechild
that chapter of morality which teaches OUT duties,;:;E
toowards ourselves. Our duties tomards ourselves rii",h is
consist, as has been already said, in guading, y,;;d, is
each in our own person, the dignity of mankind. of great
import.
A man will only reproach himself if he has the ance,
eepeoially
idea of mankind before his eyes. In this idea &ring the
he finds anoriginal,with mhich he compares
himself. But when years increase, then is the $ ~ ~ ~,
critical period in which the idea of the dignity youth
of man alone will suffice to keep the young man
in bounds. Buttheyouthmust havesome
timely hints which will help him to know what
he is to approve and what to mistrust.
97. Almost all ourschools are lacking in teaoh.
something ahich would nevertheless greatly tend :i! i :::.
tothe formation of uprightnessin children- t:tLdg
namely, a catechism of right conduct. This should others*
catechism
contain, in a popular form, everyday questions of right
conduct
of right and wrong. For instance, a man has a would be
of great
certain dBbt to pay to-day, but he sees another
man insore need,and, moved with pity, gives him
the money which belongs of right to his creditor.

Is this right or wrong?
I t is wrong, for we must be free from obliga-
tionbefore we can be generous. When we give
alms, we doameritoriousact ; but in paying
our debts, we do what we are bound to do.
Again, can a lie ever be justified by necessity?
No, thereisnosingleinstancein whicha lie
can be justified. If thisrule were notstrictly
adhered to, childrenespecially would takethe
smallest excuse for a necessity, and would very
often allow themselves to tell lies. If there were
a book of this kind, an hour might very profit-
ably be spent daily instudyingit, so that
children might learn and take to heart lessons
on right conduct-that apple of God‘s eye upon
earth.
With re- 98. As to the obligation of benezolence, it is
gard to
the obli- not an absolute obligation. We must arouse the
gation of
benevo- sympathies of children, not so much to feel for
lence, we the sorrows of others as to a sense of their duty
should
arouse tohelpthem.Childrenoughtnotto be full
children
to the of feeling, buttheyshould be full of the idea
duty of
helping of duty.Manypeople,indeed, become hard-
others,
rather hearted, whereonce they were pitifu’, because
than to
the senti- they have ao often been deceived. It is in vain to
PRACTICAL
EDUCATION 105
pointouttochildren themeritorious side of meqt of

feeling
actions.Religious teachersoftenmake , the for them
mistake of representing acts of benevolence as
meritorious,withoutseeing that all we cando
for God is just to do what we are bound to do ;
a,nd in doing good to the poor, n’e are only doing
our duty. For the inequality of man arises only
fromaccidental
circumstances-if I possess
wealth,towhat do I owe it buttothelaying
hold of circumstances favourable to me or to my
predecessors ?-while our consideration of the
whole remains ever the same.
99. We only excite envy in a child by telling Children
should
him to compare his own worth with the worth not be
enoour-
of others. He ought rather to compare himself aged to -
compare
with a concept of his reason. Forhumility is thern-
reallynothing else than the comparing of our z::ls
own worthwiththestandard of moralperfec- iFzth
tion. Thus, for instance,theChristian religion anideal
standard
makespeople
humble, not by preaching of what
is right
humility,but by teachingthemtocompare and fit.
ting
thembelves withthe highest patternof perfection.
It is very absurd to see humility in depreciat,ing
ourselves. ‘ Bee how suchandsuch a child
behaves himcelf ! ’ An exclamation of this kind
produces only a very ignoble mode of thinking ;
for if a manestimateshis own worth by the

worth of others, he either tries to elevate himself
above others or to detract fromanother’s worth.
Butthislastis envy. We then only seek to
imputefaultstoothers, in order that we may
compare favourably with them. Thus the spirit
of emulation, wrongly applied, only arouses envy.
Emulation may occasionally be used to good
purpose, as when we tell a child, in order to
, convince him of the possibility of performing a
certain task, that others could easily do it. We
must on no account allow one child to humiliate
another. We must seek to avoid every form of
pride which is founded upon superiority of for-
tune. At the same time we must seek to
I
cultivatefrankness inthe child. Thisis an
unassuming confideme in himself, the possession
of which places him in a position to exhibit his
talentsin a becoming manner.This self-con-
fidence isto be distinguished from insolence,
which is really indifference to the judgment of
others.
Classifi- 100. All thecravings of men areeither
cation of
cravings
formal (relating to freedom and power), or ma-
sad vices terial (set upon a certain object)-that is to sap,
either cravings of imagination or enjoyment-or,
finally,cravings for thecontinuation of these

two thingsaselements of happiness. Crwings
of the first kindare the lustof honour (ambition),
thelust of power, andthelust of possession.
Those of the second kind are sexual indulgence
(voluptuousness), enjoyment of good things
(good living), or the enjoyment of social inter-
course (love of amusement).
Cravings of the third kind, finally, are love
, of life, love of health, and love of ease(freedom
from care as regards the future).
Vices are either those of malice, baseness, or
narrow-mindedness.
To the firstbelongenvy, ingratitude,and
.joy at the misfortune of others. To the second
kindbelonginjustice,unfaithfulness (deceitful-
ness), dissoluteness-and this in the squander-
ing of wealth as well a8 of health (intemperance)
and of honour.
Vices of thethirdkind w e those of un-
kindness,niggardliness,andidleness (effemi-
nacy).
101. Virtues areeithervirtues of meritor claSsifi-
oation of
merely of obligationor of innoconce. virtues
To the first belong magnanimity (shown in
self-conquest in times of anger or when tempted
to ease and the lust of possession), benevolence,

and self-command,
To the secondbelong honesty,propriety,
peaceableness ; and to the third, finally, belong
bonourableness, modesty, and content.
Man is. 102. Butisman by nature morally good or
by nature
neither
bad ? He isneither, for he is not by nature a
good nor
bod. He
moral being. He only becomes a moral being
becomes Thenhis reason has developed ideas of duty
both,
however and law.One maysay, however, that he has a
"his in-
clinations naturalinclinationto every vice,for hehas
inclinations and instincts which would urge him
zE!iehis one way,while hisreason wouid drive him in
,
re*son
would
another.He can only become morally good by
drive him means of virtue-that is to say,by self-restraint-
in another
though he maybe innocent as long as his vicious
inclinations lie dormant.
Vices, for the most part, arise in this way,
that civilisation does violence toNature;and
yet our destiny as human beings is to emerge
from our natural state as animals. Perfect art
becomes second nature.
All de- 103. Everything in education depends
upon
pends on
leading establishing
correct principles, and
leading
~~~~~~- childrentounderstandand accept them. They
standand must learn to substitute abhorreece for what is
PEACTICBL EDUCATION 109
revolting andabsurd, for hatred;the fear of accept

correct
their ownconscience,for thefear of manand principles
divinepunishment ; self-respect and inward
dignity, for the opinions of men ; the inner value
of actims, for words and mere impulses ; nnder-
standing, for f t eling ; and joyousness and piety
with good humour, for a morose, timid,and
gloomy devotion.
But above all things me must keep children
from esteeming the rnerita fortuna I too highly.
104. I n looking at the education of children The
method of
with regard to d i g i o n , the first question which teaching
children
arise8 is whether it.is prscticable t o impart religion
religious ideas to children early in life. On this
point muchhas been written in educational
works. Religious ideas always imply a theology ;
and how canyoung people be taught theology
when they do not yet know themselves, much
less thevorld? Ia theyouth who a8 yet
knows nothing of dutyinthe condition to
comprehend an immediate duty towards God?
This much is cerhin-that, could it be brought
about that children should never witnessa single
act of veneration to God, never even hear the
name of God spoken, it might then be the right
I Strokes of luck.
110 THOKGHTS OW'EDUCATION
order of things to teach them first about ends

and aims, and of what concerns mankind;to
sharpen their judgment ; to instruct them in the
order and beauty of the K O ~ ~of ShTature; then
add a widerknowledge of the structure of the
universe;andthen only might be revealed to
them for the first time the idea of a Supreme
Being-a Law-giver. But since this mode of
proceeding is impossible, according to ths
. present condition of society, and we cannot
prevent children from hearing the name of God
and seeing tokens of man's devotion to Him ; if
we were to teach them something about God
only when they are grown up, the result would
be either indifference or false ideas-for instance,
terror of God'spower.Since, then, it is to be
feared that such ideas might find a dwelling-
place in the child's imagination, to avoid it we
should seek early to impart religious ideas to
the child. Butthisinstructionmust not be
merely the work of memory and imitation ; the
way chosen must be always in accordance with
Nature. Children will understand-without
abstract ideas of duty, of obligations, of good
and bad conduct-that there is a law of duty
which is not the same &s ease, utility, or other
PR-4CTICilL EDUCATION 111
considerations of the kind, but something uni-

versal, which is not governed by the caprice of
men. The teacher .himself, hoaever, must form
this idea.
At first we must ascribe everything
to
Nature, and afterwards Nature herself to God ;
showing at first, for instance, how everything
is disposed for thepreservation of the species
andtheirequilibrium,but atthe sametime
withconsiderationin the' long run for man,
that he may attain happiness.
Theidea of God might first be taught by
analogywith that of a fatherunder whose
care we are placed, andinthis waywe may
withadvantage pointout
to
the child the
unity of men as represented by one family.
105. What,then, is religion? Religion is Religion
the law in us, in so far as it derives emphasis -'!;';!
from a Law-giver and a Judge above us. It is plied to
the know.
moralityappliedto the knowledge of God. If ledge of
God. In
religion is notunited to morality, it becomes teaching
children
merely anendeavourto win favour. Hymn- we must
Ringing, prayers, and church-going should only %:the
give men fresh strength, fresh courage to f;Tn?)h
d v a n c e ; or they should be the utterance of a Morality
mast
heart inspired with the idea of duty. They oome
first, and are butpreparations forgoodworks, andnot

theology
follow the worksthemselves ; andthe only real way
in which we may pleaseGod is by our becom-
ing better men.
In teaching a child we must first begin with
the lawwhich is in him. A vicious manis
contemptible to himself, and this contempt is
inborn, and does not arise in the first instance
becauseGod has forbidden vice; for it does
not necessarily follow that the law-giveris the
author of the law. A prince, for instanee, may
forbid stealing in hiscountry without being
called the original prohibitor of theft.From
this, man learns to understand that it is a good
life alone which makes him worthy of happiness.
The divine law must at the same time be recog-
nised as Nature’s law, for it isnot arbitrary.
Hence religion belongs to all morality.
We must not, however, begin with theology.
The religionwhich is founded
merely
on
theology can never contain anythingof morality.
Hence we derive noother feelings from it but
fearonthe one hand,and hope of reward on
theother,andthis produces merely a super-
stitious cult. Morality, then,must come first
and theology follow ; and that is religion.
PRSCTICAL EDUCATION 113
106. The law that is within us we call con- Con-

science. Conscience,properlyspeaking, is the science is
the repre-
application of our actionstothis law. ' The of God
reproaches of conscience would be without effect,
if we did not regard it as the representative of
God, who, while Hehas raisedupatribunal
over us, has also established a judgment-seat
within us. If religion is notaddedto moral
conscientiousnese, it is of no effect. Religion'
without moral conscientiousness is a service of
superstition. People will serve God by praising
HimandreverencingHis power and wisdom,
withoutthinking how to fulfil the divine law;
nay, even withoutknowing andsearchingout
His power, wisdom, and so on.Thesehymn-
singings arean opiate for the conscience of
such people, and a pillow uponwhich it may
quietly slumber.
107. Childrencannotcomprehendall re- Children
ligioua ideae, notwithstandingthereare some should
taught
be
which we ought to teach them; these, however,

must be morenegative than positive. It is of dthe ien~eto
divine
no use whatever to let children recite formulae ; will
it only produces a misconception of piety.
Thetrue way of honouring God consiNts in
&ing in amordance with His will, and this is
I:
what we mustteachchildrento do. We must

see to it that the name of God is not so often
taken in vain, and this by ourselves as well as
by children. If we use it in congratulating our
friends-even withpious intent-thisalsois
' a misuse of the holy name.The idea of God
oughtto fillpeople with reverence every time
they hear His name spoken. And it should be
pronounced but seldom and never lightly.The
child must learn to feel reverence
towards
God, astheLord of life and of the whole
world; further, as one who cares for men, and
lastly as their Judge. We are told of Newton
thathe never pronounced thename of God
without pausing for a while andmeditating
upon it.
By unit- 108. Through an explanation which unites
ing the
idea of theideas of God and of duty the child learns
God and
. duty the the better to respect the divine care for creatures,
child will
learn to and will thus be kept from an inclination towards
be kind t o
animals.
destruction and cruelty, which we so often see
He should inthetorture of smallanimals. At thesame
be taught
also t o time we should teach the child to discovergood
discover
good in in evil. For instance, beasts -of prey and insects
evil
arepatterns of cleanlinessanddiligence; so,
, too, evil menare a warning to follow the law ;
,
I
and birds, by waylaying worms, protectthe

garden ; and so on. i
109. We must, then, give children some idea Religious

Ideas
of the Supreme Being, in order that when they should be
taught t o
see others praying, and so on, they may know children
to whom they are praying, and why. But these
ideas must be few innumber,and,ashas been be
said, merely negative. We must begin to impart few in
number
them from early youth,being careful at the same and
merely
time that they do not esteem men according to negative
their religious observances, for, in spite of the
diversity of religions, religion is everywhere the
same.
110. Here, in conclusion, we shall add a few At the
remarkR which should especially be observed by :Ftnthe
the youth as heapproaches the years of earl4 :?Et Of
manhood. At thistimethe youth begins to k;2Ej;h,

makecertaindistinctions which he did not he should
be spoken
make formerly. In the first place, the distinction to clearly
and defi-
of sex. Naturehas spread a certain veil of
on the
secrecyover this subject, as if it were something subject
unseemly for man, and merely an animal need
’ in him. Shehas, however, soughttounite it,
as far as po?sible, with every kind of morality.
Even savage nations behave with a kind of
shameend reserve inthismatter. Children
116. THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
now and thenask curious questions;for instance,

' Where do children come from 3 ' &c. They are,
however, easily satisfied either at receiving an
unreasonableanswerwhichmeansnothing, or
by being told that these are childish questions.
Theseinclinations develop mec,hanically in
the youth, and, as is the wag with all instincts,
even without the .knowledge of aparticular
object. Thus it is impossible to keep the youth in
ignoranceandtheinnocencewhichbelongs to
ignorance. By silence the evil is But increased.
We see this in the education of our forefathers.
In the education of the present day it is rightly
assumed that we must speak openly, clearly, and
definitely with the youth. We must allow that
it is a delicate point, for we cannot look upon it
as a subject for openconversation ; but if we
enter with sympathy into his new impulses all
will go well.
The thirteenth or fourteenth year is usually
the timein which the feeling of sex develops
itself in the youth. (When it happens earlier it
ie becausechildrenhavebeen led astrayand
corruptedthroughbadexamples.)Theirjudg-
* Rink and Schubert add : ' snd discuse it with him in sll
earnestness.'-(Tr.)
f
PRACTICAL
EDUCATION 117
ment also is then already formed, and at about
thistimeNaturehaspreparedthem for, our
discussing this matter with them.
ll1. Nothingweakens themindas well as
the bodyso much as the kind of lust which is g;;$d
directed 'towards themselves, and it is entirely from by
constant
at variancewiththenature of man.Butthis oooupa-
tion The
also mustnot be concealed from the youth. youth
We must place it before him in all its horrible- !",",",'dt0
ness, telling him that in this way he will become
useless for the propagation of the race, that his
bodily strength will be ruined by this vice more
than by anything else, thathe will bring on
himself premature old age, and that his intellect
will be very much weakened, and so on.
We mayescape from theseimpulses by
constantoccupation,and by devoting no more
time to bed and sleep than is necessary. Through
thisconstantoccupation we maybanishall
suchthoughts from our mind, for even if the
object only remains in our imagination it eats
away our vital strength. If we direct our inclina-
tiontowardstheother sex, thereareatany
ratecertainobstacles in theway; if, however, .
theyaredirectedtowards ourselves, we may
satisfythem at anytime.Thephysical effects
are extremely hurtful, but the consequences

with regardtomoralityare even worse. The
bounds of Nature are here overstepped and the
inclination rages ceaselessly, since no real satis-
factioncantake place. Theteachers of grown-
up youths\have propounded the question whether
it is allorvable for a youth to enter into relations
with the other sex? If we must choose one of
the two things, this is certainly better' than the
other. Inthe former heactsagainstNature; '
' inthelatterhe does not.Naturehas called

upon him to be a man so soon as he becomes of
age, and to propagate his kind; the exigences,
however, which exist for manin a civilised
community render it Rometimes impossible for
him to marry and educate his children at that
period. Hereinhe would be transgressingthe
social order. I t isthe best way-indeed, it is
the duty of the young man-to wait till he is in
EL conditiontomarry.Heactsthen not only
as a good man, but as a good citizen.
The youth should learn early to entertain a
properrespect for the other sex ; to win their
esteem by an activity free from vice ; and thus
tostriveafterthehighprize of EL happy
marriage.
c
112. A second distinction yhichtheyouth With re

gard to
beginstomakeabout the time of his e n t p c e &tine-
into society consistsin the knowledge of the
distinction of rank andthe inequality of men. ii$d
As a child he must not be allowed to notice this. be made
conscious
He must not evenbeallowed to give orders to of the
equality
the servants. If the child sees his parents giving of men,
as well as
orderstotheservants,theymay at any rate of their
say to him: 'We give themtheirbread,and '$::&'
therefore they obey us--you do not, and there-
fore they need not obey you.' In fact, children
would of t,hemselves know nothing of this
distinction, if only theirparents did notgive
them this false notion. The young man should
be shown thattheinequality of manisan
institutionthathasarisenon account of one
man striving to get an advantage over another.
, The consciousnessof the equalityof men, together
with their civil inequalit,y, may be taught him

little by little.
113. We must &ccustom the youth to esteem In what
way the
himself absolutely and not relatively to others. moral
Thehighesteem of others for whatdoesnot z:",':;
constitutethetrue value of men at all is ::!$"-
vanity.Further, we mustteachhimto be through-
out life
conscientious in everything, and not merely to
appear so, buttostriveto be so. We must

also make him heedful that in no matter about
which hehas well weighedaresolution shall
it remain an emptyresolution.Rathe; than
this it is better to conceive of no resolution et
all, and let thematterremainindoubt.He
must be taughtcontentednessasregardsout-
wardcircumstances,andpatience in work-
Sustine et abstine-moderation in pleasure. If
we are not always thinking of pleasure, but will
be patient in our work, we shall become useful
members of the community and be keptfrom
ennui.
Again, we must encourage the youth-
(1) To be cheerful- and good-humoured.
Cheerfulnessarisesfrom thefact of having
- nothing to
reproach oneself
with.
(2) To be even-tempered. Bymeans of
self-discipline one can train oneself to become B
cheerful companion in society.
(3) To regardmanythingsinvariablyas
matters of duty. We must hold an action to be
worthy, not because it falls in with our inclina-
tions, but because in performing it we fulfil our
duty.
(4) In love towardsothers, a8 well as to
feelings of cosmopolitanism. There

exists
something in our minds which causes us to take
aninterest (a) in ourselves, ( b ) inthosewith
whoq we have been brought up, and (c) there
should also be an interest in the progress of the
world. Childrenshould be made acquainted
with this interest, so that it may give warmth
totheirhearts. Theyshouldlearn t o rejoice
at the world’s progress, although it may not be to
their own advantage or to that of their country.
( 5 ) To setlittlestore by the enjoyment of
the good things of life. The childish fear of death
will then disappear-we must point out to the
youth that the anticipations of pleasure are not
realised in its fulfilment.
Lastly, by pointing out the necessity of
daily ‘ settling accounts ’ withhimself, BO that
at the end of life he may be able to make an
estimate with regard to its value.

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KANT ON EDUCATION

NEARLYa century after its original publication

and criticism of it. Whether he expounded and

his pupil to posterityconsistssimply of a

1 Rink does not appear to have kept any notes made by

child and not as a Biirger. He had, of course,

Voltaire had gone to Lo:ke comme I’evJant

tried ; educationalreformers were maturing.

Kant’s underlying principles, but of so much in

allowed the play of regulated freedom and not

seau himself had accused many old and newer

familiaranalogy between family andstate ;

andstress of competition. Thatthe boy’s

then the child is unmoral. Then he does good

nature was set by Kant in the forefront of his

of a human being, as a personality, consistsprecisely in this,

mission of thefatherinthe &?nile. What,

prove a benefit to come to know, through Miss

THE textadoptedinthistranslation of Kant’s

11. PHYSICAL EDUCATION , , , , , . 88

IV. CULTIVATION O F THE MIND. . . , . 66

VI. PRACTICAL EDUCATION , , a , . US

1. MAN is the only being who needs educa- Education

1 Culture (BiMung)is usedhere in the sense of mors1

It is indeedwonderful, for instance,that

must be developed little by littleout of man Discipline

Unruliness consists in independence of law.

that in later life theyshouldnot wish toput

motherlytenderness, for later on all the more

who, like children at school, stand round and try

their place, or exchangeyoungsparrows for

for thefirsttime people havebeguntojudge

And the idea of an education which will develop

gifts, and selves unconsciously. Man must strive

and more tobringaboutan educationwhich in the

therefore that educationcanonlyadvance by

slow degrees, and B true conception of the

We must the world to be broughtabout 3 Byrulers or

good SO much in view, as the well-being of the

Tye notstillmeet, now and then, with a ruler

Fourthly, nloral training must forma part

must beso trainedthatheshall choose none

Education and instruction must not be merely

by experiments, EO one generation can set forth '

guides and directs his pupil. Theone trains for

If only parents, or those who are their fellow- is the

education isthe best. Home education fre-

what heis told, because hecannotjudge for

opposition of society, thathemaylearn how

children realise suchfacts asthatthey will

Education 31. Education

Next, by learning the lesson of discretion in

fundamental principles which a man must him-

dependentirelyupontheage of the pupil. Let ~

a child be clever after the manner of children ;

34. ALTHOUQH those who undertake the home The pri-

consistsmerelyin thetendingand feeding of

of their infants, that everything does not depend ~

undereloped appetites in a manner pleasant to

a cool and hard bed. Cold baths also are good.

part, it mustbe the process of hardening thechild.

Rooking, 40. Another

for them he will cry all the more.'

cation; for the child has, as yet,no sense of ~1~~